Perfect Crime
by PK.Atomyst
Summary: Homura has a new plan to keep Madoka safe, but chances are Madoka isn't going to like her version of "protective custody"
1. Its so 'moé' its making me sick!

**Chapter One**

 **I**

Homura's eyes shot open, she was once again staring at the ceiling of her room on the day she would once again meet Madoka for the first time. She sat up and let her legs hang over the side of the bed, letting her gaze fall absently on the floor.

 _How many time's now?_ she asked herself.

She got up and walked to the bathroom with slow heavy steps. She shrugged off her pajamas as she got into the shower. She turned it on and stood with an absent look in her eyes, letting the hot water pour over her body.

She thought that last time would be different, that she would finally be able to put an end to things once and for all. She lost track of how many times she had gone against Walpurgisnacht; it was hundreds now, she was sure. How many years did it add up to? She figured it must have been worth an entire lifetime. She could hardly remember any life before this. Who she before she met Madoka and made that deal with Kyubey. That life was like a distant memory to her.

 _'This time'_ she thought, trying to encourage herself, _'this time things will be different.'_ She didn't believe it. She said that to herself many times before, and many times she _did_ make herself believe it, but those days were gone. Even with the most resolved will, there comes a point where it is simply denial that success is impossible. She had faced failure an uncountable number of times, and she finally felt that resolve wavering… What's worse is...

 _'What's worse, is I almost died.'_

She leaned her forehead against the wall as the hot water poured over her body, and she began to weep. She had thought she was past crying, but it was all becoming too much for her.

 _I almost died_

What would have happened then? It would have been over. Her lifetime of struggling and reliving the same months all would have been for nothing. She would have died, her friends would have died, and worse of all _Madoka_ would have died.

If the blow had been a little more powerful, or hit her in a way that was more lethal she really would have died. Luckily, she had just enough strength to cast her spell and come back to the beginning all over again... but what if she _hadn't?_

 _This time won't be any different,_ she thought as she climbed back out of the shower. She looked at herself in the mirror. She cried her sorrow away and her face was back to the battle hardened face she had learned to be more familiar with. "I can not defeat it," she finally declared to herself. "So..."

 _So, what?_

"I have to try another way..."

That is when a plan began to hatch. She could not save the city, and she could not stop Walpurgisnacht. She knew that now, but there is something she _could_ do: She could at least keep Madoka safe.

She extended her fingers, and looked at the ring around her finger, which was really her SoulGem in it's concealed form.

"Madoka…" she whispered, "Whatever it takes this time. Even if you hate me… I _WILL_ keep you safe!"

 **II**

"Madoka, you're late!" said Sayaka as her pink haired friend came running down the street. Once she caught up to them she bent over and started panting as she tried to catch her breath.

"Sorry!" she said, "Thank you for waiting for me!"

"It's not like we would leave without you," sayaka said with a laugh. "Well, guess we had better hurry, we can still make it if we rush."

"So, what caused you to be late anyway?" Hitomi asked, as they began walking toward the school.

"Oh, nothing really," said Madoka, "I was just talking with my mom and lost track of the time is all."

"Heh, you can be a real ditz sometimes!" said Sayaka with a teasing grin.

At that, Madoka's face puckered up into a pout, "Hey! Don't be mean!"

"Sorry, I'm just kidding," Sayaka laughed. Then she noticed the new ribbons in Madoka's hair and asked, "Hm? Are those new?"

"No," Madoka said as her hand raised up and touched one of them. "Well, mom picked them out for me."

"Oh I see," Hitomi mused. "She was giving you tips on how to be popular with the boys, right?"

"N-no! It's not like that!" Madoka insisted, waving her hands with a touch of red appearing on her face.

"There is a new transfer student coming in today," Hitomi continued with a slightly more interrogative tone. "Were you trying to make a good first impression?"

"I said it's not like that! Besides, we don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet!"

" _So…"_ Sayaka inquired, "Your mom's giving you tips on how to be popular with the boys, huh?" She laughed and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Madoka, pulling her into a tight hug.

"S-Sayaka! Cut it out!" Madoka laughed as she tried to pull away, but Sayaka was always much stronger than her and was easily able to keep the small pinkette locked in her grasp.

"I'm not going to let you get way with it Madoka! You're all mine, you hear me? ALL MIIIINE!"

"Sayaka! Seriously! Stop!" Madoka yelled, but she was still laughing enough to take away any authority the demand might have held.

Hitomi had an unamused expression on her face, and sighed as she watched the struggle rage on. After a moment, she clear her throat to grab their attention, and enlighten them to the fact that other students who were walking by were starting to stare at them.

Madoka and Sayaka both froze with Sayaka arms still firmly wrapped around Madoka from behind, and they both started to blush. Sayaka quickly let go and started walking forward again. "Heh, whoops," she said, whistling and holding her bag behind her back, trying to brush off the awkwardness.

Madoka took a moment to straighten her shirt, since it became somewhat ruffled during the exchange, then sprinted a few steps to catch up with her friends.

"Still… I am kind of jealous," said Sayaka. "Your mom is so cool! It must be nice having someone to pick out cute clothes for you."

"Heh, I guess so," Madoka said, playing with the ribbon and trying to force the blush off her face. "But… you don't think it's too flashy do you?"

"No, not at all," said Hitomi. "In all seriousness, they do look great! Right Sayaka?"

"Yup! They're really cute!" Sayaka agreed, putting a thumb up and grinning.

 **III**

Homura stood outside the classroom and waited to be called in. Once she was, she came in and stood in front of the class as she had many times before. The teacher introduced her and beckoned her to tell the class about herself.

"My name is Homura Akemi, I'm a transfer student," she said, standing in front of the class and speaking without much passion. Her eyes glanced the rows of students, and searched out Madoka's face. Once she found her, her eyes locked on to the pinkette with a level of intensity that was hard not to notice.

 _I'll protect you this time,_ she silently vowed to her only friend. _This time, you won't feel any pain._

When Madoka realized she was being stared at so intently by this girl who was a total stranger to her, she started to feel a tad awkward, and blushed with her eyes shifting around nervously. Sayaka noticed all this and looked back and forth between the two of them with a raised eyebrow, wondering if they knew each other.

"Um…" The teacher seemed unsure of how to take this odd new student of hers. "Um, thank you Homura. You can take a seat now," she said, trying to put on a smile. Homura, without any change in expression, then walked to the nearest empty seat she could find and sat down.

The class went by normally from that point further. Nothing too notable or out of the ordinary happened until Homura was asked to solve a math problem on the board, which she did very quickly, yet unenthused, seeming not to have to stop and think for even a moment. The entire class seemed impressed by this and quietly whispered to each other as the tall raven haired girl turned away from the board and casually walked back to her seat. The truth is, Homura could have written down the right answer even if the teacher had asked her to approach the board blindfolded, for she had solved that same problem in this same class hundreds of times before.

Homura ended up being the center of attention throughout the rest of the day in every single class she attended. In gym class she crushed every one of the school's records, and in the classrooms she knew the answers to every single question the teachers asked. It was impressive enough that when there was a free period before lunch she was instantly swarmed by a group of girls who wanted to learn more about the stunning new transfer student.

In many of her past lives, Homura had humored this group of girls, but this time she wasn't in the mood for it. She just gave them the cold shoulder and left them to wonder why she seemed to have a problem with them.

Homura avoided Madoka through most of the day. Considering the plan she had in store for later she figured it would be best not to be seen spending too much time around the girl who would soon be going missing. Homura already had plans to forge a note from the hospital to explain her own disappearance. If done right, no one would be likely look into her beyond that.

However, Homura had a few things she wanted to say to Madoka before her plan was put into action. She feared how Madoka would ultimately end up reacting, and Homura thought if she could at least subtly express her intent beforehand it would help things go a little smoother in the long run. So, as soon as the class was dismissed for lunch Homura waited for an opportunity to approach Madoka.

She stalked the pinkette through the hallway, keeping a few students between the two of them, but not taking her eyes away from her target. Once in the lunchroom, Homura waited for Madoka to take her seat, then walked over to the table. She stood there for a moment, until the three girls took notice of her. Homura did not pay any mind to Sayaka or Hitomi, and just looked directly at Madoka.

"Madoka Kaname," she said, with a dry blank voice.

"Um, yes?" Madoka asked, and put on a smile as she set her utensils to the side and looked up at the odd transfer student.

"You are the nurse's aid, are you not?"

"Oh, yes, that's right!" Madoka said with her typical cheery tone of voice.

"Good, I am feeling ill. I need you to show me to the nurse's office." Homura then began to lead the way, but looked back when she realized that Madoka wasn't following. "Right now, if you would," she said commandingly.

Sayaka's eyes narrowed at the overly assertive transferred student, and moved as though she were about to stand up and say something. Madoka had barely gotten started on her lunch, and apparently Sayaka had something to say to this _rude_ girl. However, Hitomi quickly tugged on Sayaka's sleeve to bring her back down again, and whispered, "She must really be feeling unwell."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Sayaka agreed reluctantly, then returned to her seat.

Madoka glanced down at her food for a moment, then looked back to Homura and smiled. "Ok, I'm coming. Just a moment." As she stood she looked back to her friends and said, "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

 **IV**

Madoka felt nervous, but at the same time a bit relieved she would get a chance to break the ice with this strange new girl. The truth is, she actually had been thinking about her all day. She hadn't told her friends yet, because she couldn't find the right words and she was sure they would laugh it off, but she was positive that she had seen this girl in a dream last night. Maybe she really was just being silly, but it gave her a strange feeling which she just could not shake.

While she was thinking about all that, she realized that she wasn't really leading the way as Homura had asked. In fact, it was Homura who was leading the way, and she did it as confidently as if she knew exactly where to find the nurse's office. That was impossible, though. Even if she did know the way, why would she ask Madoka to show her? Of course she didn't know the way, so Madoka decided to use that as a way to get talking.

She sped up her pace to walk alongside Homura, who was moving with quick steps. "Ok, so the nurse is just down this hall and..."

"I know where it is," Homura said in her blank distant way.

Madoka frowned. "But, if you're a new student how can you know? And... why would you ask me to show you if you already knew?"

Homura didn't respond but just kept walking at her fast pace, leaving Madoka to feel like she had no choice but to just follow. Why did Homura not answer her question? Could her odd behavior be attributed to her just being _really_ sick? Maybe that's why she asked Madoka to come in the first place, incase she had some sort of complication on the way to the nurse. The teacher did say she had just recently been released from the hospital, and Madoka didn't know anything about her condition, so that seemed like a pretty plausible explanation.

The silence was starting to make Madoka feel rather uneasy either way, and she racked her brain for something to say, to try to get Homura talking and hopefully relieve some of the tension she felt. "You are really good at math," she ventured. "Everyone was impressed by how well you solved that problem in class. Were you in the advanced classes in your last school?"

"No, in my last school my grades were average." Homura responded in her same monotone way.

"I... I see..." Madoka looked around, realizing they were now in the hallway by themselves, and she suddenly felt rather nervous about it.

Homura suddenly stopped walking, then turned toward the window. She looked outside, not passively, but searching. Her eyes darted this way and that, checking every corner of the schoolyard.

"Um… Homura? A-are you ok?" Madoka asked, nervously taking a step forward.

Homura's eyes finally stopped, and Madoka glanced out the window to see what she could be looking at. All Madoka saw was a small white animal, probably a rabbit, hiding under the bleachers. It seemed to be looking their way, but then quickly turned and scurried away into deeper hiding, almost as if it could tell they were looking at it.

Homura suddenly turned away from the window and looked at Madoka with an uncharacteristic amount of expression. Until now she had been dull and monotone, but now she spoke with a sense of importance. "Madoka, let me ask you something."

"Oh, sure, sure, anything!" Madoka was glad to finally get her talking, but now felt concerned about the seriousness in her voice.

"Let's say you had a friend who was in danger, but she didn't know she was in danger and would not believe you if you told her. You could save her, but you knew that in the end it might make her hate you. Would you go through with saving her? Even if she did not want you to?"

"Um..." Madoka didn't expect such a profound question, and took a moment to think it over. "Well, if she's my friend and she really is in danger... Yes, I would do anything I could to help her!"

"Even if, in order to save her, you had to do something she hated?"

"Well... If she is truly my friend I think she would understand I just wanted to help. But Homura, why are you asking me this? Is everything ok? Do you have a friend who is in trouble?"

Homura nodded and turned back to the window. "Yes, and she has no idea of the danger she's in."

"Who is it? Should we go tell a teacher?" Madoka asked.

"No, its nothing any teacher can help us with." She stepped toward Madoka, shortening the distance between the two of them. Madoka shrank back a little, feeling a bit intimidated by Homura's intensity. "Madoka, if something strange happens to you some time in the near future, please trust that it is for your own good."

"H-Homura, what are-" Madoka's eye started shifting around, but she didn't get a chance to finish her thought.

"Thank you for walking with me, I can find my way on my own now." Before walking away she turned back for a moment to say one more thing. There was still that cool intensity in eyes. "Please remember what we talked about today."

Madoka just stood there, completely bewildered, and watched as Homura walked down the hall. Once Homura turned around the next corner, Madoka finally turned away herself and started walking back to the lunchroom. She thought it over, trying to make sense of it, and wondered if she should do something.

 **V**

After school, Madoka along with Sayaka and Hitomi went to a local cafe for milkshakes. There, Madoka told them of the strange encounter she had with Homura, and everything the girl had said to her.

"Wow! What a total Psycho." Sayaka laughed and took a sip from her milkshake. "I knew there was something off about that girl, but that's just crazy." She noticed the distressed look on Madoka face, and sighed. "Look, I wouldn't worry about it, chances are she is just messing with you. She probably just thinks being the weird transfer student is cool or something." She pushed her milkshake to the side and grinned. "AH! That's so _Moé_ it's making me _sick_!" She then feigned as if she were gagging and pretended to pass out.

"I don't know," Madoka said, her eyes shifting down to her own drink. "She actually seemed pretty sincere. The even weirder part is, I feel like I do know her from somewhere."

"Really? From where?" Hitomi asked.

"Well, you guys are probably going to laugh at me... but... I think I met her in a dream… or something..."

"You met her in…" Sayaka started.

"A dream?" Hitomi finished. They looked at each other skeptically for a moment, and then simultaneously burst into laughter. Madoka became frazzled and looked back and forth between them with a bright shade of blush appearing on her face.

"Oh wow!" said Sayaka through her fit of laughter. "Looks like the anime character is coming out in _you_ as well!"

"Don't be mean!" Madoka said, "I know how it sounds, but I'm almost sure of it!"

"Well what happened is this dream?" Hitomi asked, seeing how serious Madoka was and deciding to put the jokes to the side for now.

"Well, that's the thing... I don't really remember."

"Well, if you want my opinion," Hitomi started, "There is a chance you _have_ met her before. Maybe it was just so long ago that you don't remember. Then in your dream last night, your subconscious brought back the image of her."

"That's a bit of a huge coincidence, don't you think?" Sayaka said, skeptically.

"Not at all, just think about it. We actually do that kind of thing in dreams all the time, but more often than not we have no use for the information and we forget about the dream soon after having it. However, on a rare occasion, something in your real life brings up your memory of the dream before you have a chance to forget it and it ends up being one of those dreams that just stick with you." She took a sip of her milkshake and let the idea sink in for a moment. "Anyway, that's probably what happened here. If you did not just so happen to meet Homura again today, then you would have likely totally forgotten the dream, along with the black haired girl that was in it. Since you _did_ see her, the dream ended up sticking with you. It's as simple as that, or at least that's one possibility."

"I don't know," said Sayaka, "Still sounds pretty far-fetched if you ask me." She played with her straw for a moment while they all thought about it. "Hey, you guys want to go to the music store after this?"

"Sorry, I can't," said Hitomi. "I have some things I need to do at home."

"That's ok, how about you Madoka?... Um, Madoka? Earth to Madoka!"

Madoka was staring out the window, deep in thought, but shook herself out of it when she heard Sayaka call her name.

"Huh? The music store? Um... Sure! Sounds like fun!" she said, forcing a smile back onto her face.

"Heh, you're being a real space cadet today. What's the deal?"

"Well… I'm just thinking about Homura, I was thinking there seems to be something really sad about her."

"It's probably just that she's new," said Hitomi. "It must be scary transferring into a brand new school where you don't know anyone. I'm sure she'll cheer up in a few days."

"I don't know," said Sayaka, "After that story you told us she doesn't exactly sound stable in the first place. Personally, I would stay far away from her if I were you." She got up and pulled her bag up over her shoulder. "Anyway, ready to go?"

* * *

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 **Thank you for reading! And thanks to reviewers and followers for the support!**

 **-Atomyst**


	2. You'll never be safe!

**Chapter 2**

 **I**

Homura stood over Kyubey's dead body with the barrel of her gun still smoking. Thanks to her innumerable number of time jumps she always knew exactly where to find the rat in these early days of a timeline. He was planning to lure Madoka into this warehouse behind the music store, and had Homura not interfered just now, that would have been happening in just a few minutes.

Of course, she did not actually kill him. One of his copies would be showing up at any moment to complain about her destroying other people's property. She might kill that one as well, or she might not. It did not matter, she just had to keep him distracted long enough for Madoka to finish browsing the music store and start heading home. In her past lives, if she did it like this and prevented Kyubey from meeting Madoka here in the warehouse, he would not try again until she was home and in bed. By that time, Homura would have already moved forward with her plan. If everything went well, she would no longer have to worry about Kyubey contacting Madoka anymore.

"Well now, what was the point of that?" echoed Kyubey's voice from somewhere back in the warehouse. Homura searched the darkness until she saw his two glowing red eyes peering at her from behind a stack of boxes. "Just who are you anyway?" Kyubey asked as he came forward. Homura didn't respond, and simply watched him.

The new Kyubey walked over to the dead one with his small soft steps. He looked at it and then back at Homura. "You seem to understand how easily I can replace them, so what were you hoping to accomplish by doing this in the first place?" He then bent his face over his dead copy and started eating it. The process was quick and sloppy, but when he was all done eating the flesh and licking the blood off the floor the spot was perfectly clean as if nothing had ever been there. He then sat back on his haunches and stared up at Homura with his strange alien eyes.

"Well, you've got my attention," he said. "Is there something you wanted? Or were you simply in the mood for destroying someone else's property?"

"I do want something," said Homura, slowly.

"Well I do have the power to grant wishes," said Kyubey. "In exchange for souls, that is, but I'm sure you already knew about that. However, since it seems that you no longer have a soul, I don't know what it is you possibly could want from me."

"I want to deliver you a message," said Homura. "I want to tell you to leave Madoka alone. She is not signing your contract."

Kyubey's eyes lit up at the sound of Madoka's name. "And just what do _you_ know about Madoka Kaname?"

Homura's eyes narrowed and her fist tightened. "I know that she has the potential to be one of the most powerful Magical Girls who ever lived, and with that she could also become the most wicked witch this world has ever seen." All of those horrible memories of past timelines ran through her mind, and of all the pain this little rat had caused her dear Madoka. "I also know that she is a kind hearted person, and tries her best to always do what is right. I know she doesn't deserve the misery you are going to try and put her through. _Incubator._ "

"You're pretty well informed. I wonder how that is." Homura didn't respond, just continued staring intensely at the evil little rodent. "Who are you? How is it that you are a Magical Girl and I have never seen you before?"

"You don't already know?" she asked.

"I have a few theories, but would you tell me even if I guessed correctly?"

"Probably not."

"Then I suppose it is pointless. Well, goodbye then." Kyubey stood up and began to turn around when Homura interrupted him.

"Wait," she said. He looked back to see that she had her gun raised and pointed right at him.

"Doing that is pointless." His innocent little eyes stared at her. His face was angelic, as if it could do no harm.

She said, _"I don't care"_ and pulled the trigger — putting a bullet right between those small red eyes. His little body collapsed and blood began to pool around the furry white mass. "That should slow you down long enough," she said as she returned the weapon to the magic pocket behind her shield.

Now it was time for her plan to begin. Now all she had to do to keep Madoka safe... _is capture her._

 **II**

After leaving the music store, Madoka had to start heading home. Sayaka bought a CD for Kyousuke and wanted to swing by the hospital to give it to him. Since their neighborhood and the hospital were in the same direction, they ended up walking together for a little while. Madoka didn't say much while they walked, and seemed to have something on her mind.

"Hey Madoka, are you feeling alright?" Sayaka finally asked, just before they were going to part ways.

Madoka suddenly looked up, being pulled out of whatever thoughts she had been mulling over in her mind. "Huh? Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you just kind of seem out of it today. You were totally spacing out back at the music store."

Madoka smiled, "It's nothing, really."

"Does it have to do with that Homura girl?" Sayaka asked.

"No, it's not that... Sure, that conversation I had with her was kind of strange, but other than that I'm sure she's a good person."

"Well personally, I don't know if I trust her. I'm telling you there's something really off about that girl. Just saying, I'd just keep my distance if I were you."

"You're being paranoid." Madoka smiled, and tried to put Sayaka back at ease. "I bet she is actually very nice, let's just try and give her a chance. Ok?"

"Hm… Yeah, I guess you're right..." Sayaka passively kicked up a bit of dirt with her shoe. "It's just that… Well, you seemed really worried about something all day. Especially in the music store; I joked about it, but I really have never seen you like this before."

Madoka didn't really want to tell her what really happened in the music store. Mainly because she was sure she was just being silly again, but, when they were in there she could have swore someone, or something, was calling out to her. She ended up telling Sayaka about it anyway, but then followed up by saying, "I'm sure I was just imagining things." She knocked herself on the head and laughed, "Just silly ole' me imagining things again."

Sayaka looked at her very deeply for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, that's my Madoka." Without warning, she then leaned forward and kissed Madoka on the cheek, forcing blush onto the pinkettes face.

"W-what was that for?" Madoka said, taking half a step back from surprise.

Sayaka shrugged, "I don't know, I just felt like it." Then she laughed, and started blushing as well as she scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'd better get going. See you at school tomorrow!" She then quickly ran off in the direction of the hospital Kyosuke was staying at. Before she would have disappeared around a corner, she turned back and waved goodbye one more time.

"Wow… What's with her?" Madoka smiled to herself as she touched the spot where Sayaka had kissed her. "Guess I'm not the only one who's been acting weird. She has been doing that kind of stuff a lot lately." Madoka laughed as she twirled around and started heading back home.

 **III**

Homura had been spying on them from a distance. When she saw Sayaka kiss Madoka on the cheek a certain twinge of anger built up in her. Homura didn't understand why it bothered her so much. Maybe it's because she knew Sayaka was speaking badly of her, and then that kiss was the last straw. Homura had given her life to protecting Madoka, and that blue haired tomboy always got in the way and ended up putting Madoka in more danger. If it were not for Sayaka Miki, things would be so much easier. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced her anger was justified.

Yet, she exhaled and let reason refill her mind. It wasn't Sayaka's fault, and it wasn't Madoka's fault either. For at this point in the timeline neither one of them knew about Magical Girls. Nor could they know of the sacrifices Homura had made... If only she could make them understand. If only she could make _Madoka_ understand. Then maybe she would get the love that she deserved after all these years of struggling.

Alas, it was impossible. Homura knew this, and she also knew that no matter how hard she explained the situation to Madoka the true depth of her sacrifice would never get through to her. In past lives she had done just that: she explained everything to Madoka but to no avail. It's not that those past Madoka's did not believe her, it is just that she couldn't fully grasp what Homura was telling her. How could she? Homura doubted anyone who has never experienced time travel could even begin to understand what she has been through. Reliving the same few weeks over and over and over again, for an amount of time that she was sure exceeded what her natural life span would have been.

This time things were going to be different, though. She might not be able to make Madoka understand her sacrifice and return her the love she had been fighting for all this time, but she could at least keep her safe. She might not be able to defeat Walpurgisnacht and save the town along with all of her friends, but at least she would be able to keep Madoka safe.

She watched Madoka walk from the main street and take a shortcut through the park. After the park there would not be another unpopulated area before Madoka got home. If Homura was going to go through with her plan, now was the time to make her move. She set the gears on her shield into motion, and time stopped. She walked through the motionless silent world and found a good spot to catch Madoka off guard.

 **IV**

Madoka walked through the park, reflecting on the day's events. As she thought about it, she wished she hadn't told Sayaka about that strange conversation she had with Homura. She wouldn't have if she knew it would cause Sayaka to start regarding Homura with hostility. Madoka hoped they could all be friends, but things already seemed to be off on the wrong foot, at least from Sayaka's side of it.

She decided not to worry too much about it just yet, though. There would be plenty of time to set things right. Although, Madoka did worry about Homura for other reasons than just that. Homura had seemed very distressed as she spoke with her. She wondered whether or not she should tell one of the teachers about it. After thinking for some time, she finally decided she would tell her mother and ask for advice. Her mom always seemed to know the right things to do.

Just as she was thinking about all that she heard someone call her name.

"Madoka."

She looked around and saw Homura leaning against a tree just off of the path she was walking. She was staring at Madoka with that typical expression of hers.

"Homura?" Madoka returned the dull gaze with a friendly smile and approached her, "I didn't expect to see you here, do you live nearby?"

"No, not exactly," Homura answered, as she started glancing around, checking her surroundings. "I just... had something to do is all."

"I see..." Madoka was once again finding herself just a little bit uncomfortable about Homura's mysterious ways. "Well, sorry but I can't talk too much just now, I need to get home soon or I'll be in trouble. See you at school tomorrow!"

"Wait!" Homura said, reaching her hand out after Madoka as she turned to walk away.

Madoka looked back at her, questioningly. There was a sense of urgency in Homura's eyes that forced her to stop. "What is it?"

"Madoka, the truth is..." She started looking around as if searching for an explanation. "The truth is, I came here specifically looking for you."

"You did?"

"Yes, please, I need you to come with me." Homura stepped forward and grabbed Madoka's hand, intimately locking it inside hers. Madoka, having just met this girl who was now being far too familiar with her, backed away slowly.

"H-Homura... is something wrong?" She pulled her hand free and continued to back away.

 **V**

It hurt Homura that Madoka was being so reproachful. It couldn't be helped. Homura thought of this girl as her absolute closest friend, but to Madoka they had met only this morning.

Homura didn't know what to do now, she had hoped she could convince Madoka to come along willingly, but it was clear she had already made a mess of that. She wished she had just come up with a lie and tricked Madoka into coming along with her. How could she do it now? She could use force, which she was fine with, but she worried that Madoka might not forgive her. Plus she would have to waste a good bit of her time magic if she were going to bring Madoka all the way back to her hideout. But, if that was the only way, that's exactly what she would have to do.

She decided to try one more time to convince Madoka to come willingly. In past lives she had better luck convincing Madoka of things then she had with the other girls. However, this is usually when more of a relationship had formed. At this point in the timeline it would be hard to get Madoka to listen to _anything_ she said. "Madoka, I know how strange this is, but it's important you come with me. Remember when I told you I have a friend who is in danger? Well, you are that friend." Homura looked at her very seriously and gauged her reaction.

"But Homura, what danger? And how could you know something like that? We have only just met."

"It would be very difficult to explain, but please, if you would just come with me I'll explain everything in time." Homura stepped forward, and Madoka matched each step backwards.

"Sorry, but if you can't tell me what it is..." She bowed her head slightly. "I'm sure I will be safe at my house, I have to go now!" She then turned and started to walk away at a quick pace.

"No wait! You won't! You'll never be safe!" Homura reached forward as she called after her, but ultimately she let her go...

...or so it seemed.


	3. It's all a dream

**Chapter 3**

 **I**

Madoka walked quickly, occasionally glancing back to make sure Homura was not following her, and she wasn't. After a few minutes Homura was no longer anywhere in sight.

Madoka felt completely freaked out at this point. Part of her still wanted to give Homura the benefit of the doubt, but she was just too strange! Grabbing her hands as if they were close friends, and being so mysterious, as well as telling her such scary things. She decided to get home as soon as possible and tell her mother all about it; she didn't know what else to do.

With that idea, she glanced back one more time to make sure she wasn't being followed. When she turned her head back again Homura was standing in her path. Madoka came to a sudden stop, almost stumbling. Homura stepped forward slowly, not making eye contact. Her lips were sunken down into a guilty frown.

"H-how did you?" Madoka stammered, dumbfounded. How could Homura be standing there right now? Madoka had left her behind, and she knew there is no way Homura could have passed her without her noticing. On top of that, Homura's clothing had changed! She was now wearing a purple and gray dress that Madoka could only describe as something that would be worn as cosplay, and there was a metal shield with a rather intricate design over her wrist.

Then, she noticed what Homura was holding in her hands. She was trying to hide it at her side, but Madoka could see she was carrying a bundle of rope and a pair of handcuffs. Madoka backed away again, her heart started thumping in her chest, and she prepared to turn and run in the opposite direction.

Homura turned her head up to look Madoka in the eyes and said, "If something strange happens to you, please know that it is for your own good." And then, in an instant, she disappeared.

 **II**

Madoka gasped and rubbed her eyes. How was that possible? Was she imagining things? Then she felt someone grab her from behind. It couldn't be Homura, she thought, Homura was just standing right in front of her!

She tried to fling her arms backward to push her assailant away, but found her wrists were locked together behind her back by something metal... handcuffs! But how did that happen so quickly? She hadn't even felt them go on! She thrashed her body around and screamed, trying to escape. The hands that had grabbed her were now throwing rope over her body. Madoka screamed again as her assailant wrestled her to the ground. She would have landed right on her face, but the assailant was careful not to let her drop too hard. She let out another scream as loud as she could: "HELP!"

"That won't do you any good," said Homura's voice — it _was_ Homura! With one hand she held Madoka's head against the ground, she kept her pinned with her knees, and with her free hand she pulled the rope up from under Madoka's right arm. "Please stop resisting, I do not want to hurt you."

Madoka, not heeding the request, thrashed around as much as she could and tried to escape. "What are you doing to me! Let go of me!" What was going on? How did Homura disappear like that and end up behind her? And aside from all that: why was she tying her up?! "Stop it! Please stop!" She screamed as she felt the rope pull tight against her chest.

Her eyes darted around desperately, looking for someone to help. Far in the distance, on the other side of the park, she saw the silhouettes of two people standing together, but they were not moving at all. She screamed in their direction: "OVER HERE! HELP! PLEASE HELP!" They still were not moving — why wouldn't they move!?

Homura wrapped the rope around Madoka's chest a second time, pulled it tight and then brought the rope over her shoulder. It wasn't easy, as Madoka hadn't stopped thrashing her body around ever since this started. However, thanks to the handcuffs Madoka did not have much of a way to resist, and besides that, Madoka wasn't a very strong girl in the first place. Homura's progress was slow and sloppy, but she still managed to get the rope around Madoka's body.

Then, suddenly, Madoka's struggling completely stopped. She stared in disbelief as she saw something impossible. While trying to get the attention of the motionless people on the other side of the park she noticed a bird. The bird was in mid flight, but it was completely still, just hanging in the air as if gravity didn't exist and it was locked in time. Not even its wings were moving!

"Im-impossible," Madoka whispered. "This is a dream. It's a dream."

Upon this realization, Madoka's struggling completely deceased. She was frozen in her disbelief. Homura took this opportunity while she was not resisting to finish tying her up, taking a little extra time to make sure the rope was tight against her body.

"That's right." Homura spoke calmly as she worked. "This is all a dream, so just relax. Everything will be fine. I am not going to hurt you."

 **III**

Homura was nearly complete with tying her up by the time Madoka snapped out of it and started struggling again.

"What's going on! What is this? Please tell me!" Tears were streaming from her eyes as she turned her head back to look at her captor.

"Please don't cry. I know this is scary, but you will be fine."

She had originally run the rope above and below Madoka's chest, then ran it over her shoulder and under itself again to make a V shape between her breasts. She then wound the rope around her forearms behind her back, and with the excess she tied her arms together in several more places until she was satisfied that it would be quite impossible for Madoka to escape. She then took the handcuffs off, thinking it was too rough. When she did so, she saw that there were scratches around Madoka's wrists from struggling against the metal.

"You hurt yourself," Homura said, touching her wrists lightly, causing Madoka to wince. "I wish you hadn't struggled, I really did not want to hurt you. Here, stand up." Homura pulled her up by the rope harass she created over Madoka's forearms. Even with Homura's help she struggled to her feet. "I have one more thing to do, for now," Homura said, and grabbed a smaller length of rope. She looped it through the bottom of the V between Madoka's breast and tied it to itself so it could act as a sort of leash.

Homura, needing to look right at Madoka's chest to perform this last tie, blushed and quickly darted her eyes away. The rope lined the shape of her boobs and pushed against them enough to raise them up, making them seem perkier and hard not to notice. Homura hoped Madoka didn't realize she looked, but she must have as she started blushing furiously as well. There were still tears lightly streaking her face.

"I... I know this might be a little embarrassing, but please bare with it. Let's go." Homura then started to walk in the opposite direction that they had come from, holding the leash she had tied to Madoka in her hand. Madoka was reluctant to move, so after only a few steps Homura had reached the end of the rope and pulled it to move Madoka along. She stumbled a few steps forward, but still would not start walking.

"Come on," Homura said, and looked back at her. Seeing Madoka's face, she instantly felt guilty. Madoka hadn't said much in the last couple minutes, perhaps she was in shock by the situation she was in, but now it all caught up to her. Her face scrunched up and tears began to flow freely. She fell down to her knees and stared at the ground, letting the tears fall with long sobs escaping her.

"What's going on!" Madoka cried out, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Homura was too ashamed to look at her. She stared off in the distance, still loosely holding the rope that was attached to the bound crying Madoka. There was no time for this, though. Her time stop magic would not last forever, and things were already progressing far slower than she had planned. "If you need to cry, you can do so later," Homura said sternly, still unable to bring herself to look at poor Madoka. "There is no time for it now... come on, or I'll have to drag you."

With that, she stepped back over to Madoka and pulled her up to her feet. "Come on, hurry now," she said softly as she could, and led Madoka on by the shoulder. This time, Madoka walked along more submissively. "That's it, just relax. I know how it seems, but just trust that I'm trying to help you."

Madoka looked around as they walked. She saw many peculiar things; the trees were stuck in mid sway, the water of a nearby pond was completely still as if it were made of ice (in spite of the fact it was nearly summer). She realized that there was no wind, either. There had been a slight breeze before all this started to happen, but now the air was completely still.

Once they moved along for a while and Homura did not see anyone else in sight, she stopped using her magic and time returned to normal.

"I returned time to normal for now, but I'll have to switch it on again once we get out of the park," Homura told her. She was still guiding her by the shoulder, but held the rope in the other hand. She figured doing it like this was at least a little more dignified for Madoka. "If you happen to see someone, don't try screaming for help. It won't do you any good, and... and... well, I suppose if you do that... I'll have to gag you."

Madoka stopped suddenly and pulled away from Homura's touch, then she turned to face her captor directly. Her eyes and cheeks were wet with tears, but her lips formed an angry scowl.

"Who do you think you are!" Madoka yelled at her, "You say you're doing this to help me but you haven't explained anything yet!"

"I will," said Homura as she looked around. She felt rather anxious about the situation, worrying about someone seeing them. "But wouldn't it be bad if someone saw you like this? They might get a weird idea about what we are doing."

Madoka's face reddened, partly from anger and partly from embarrassment. She could have screamed at Homura, but she didn't know what words to use. She wasn't normally the confrontational type, and therefore lacked the vocabulary to express what she was feeling right now.

"All I am saying is it might be in your best interest to just go along with me for now. I won't let anyone see you, but that will be difficult if we keep delaying." She then started walking, this time going back to the method of using the rope as a leash to pull Madoka along.

At least she stopped crying, so Homura didn't feel as strong a need to comfort her. She supposed a little anger might be a good sign. Madoka might not seem it sometimes, but she truly did have a strong spirit and it would take far more than this to break her.

Madoka stumbled as she reached the end of the rope and gasped after being jerked forward.

"Hey! You don't need to do that!" she blurted out, then blushed with her eyes sinking away. "I-I'm coming, ok?"

"Good," Homura said, and slowed down for just a moment while Madoka caught up. Madoka still trailed a step or two behind her, and Homura still held the rope in her hand, but they were at least moving along at a quicker pace now.

After a minute of walking in silence, Madoka spoke up. "S-so…" Homura glanced back at her through the corner of her eye. Madoka wasn't able to look at her directly, and her eyes sank downward as she tried to express her thoughts. "W-why?" is all she managed.

Homura looked forward again and thought it over. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I promise I will explain everything in time, but for now we just need to keep moving."

Madoka seemed to accept this for now, and didn't say anything else. Her arms struggled against the rope, but she didn't have even an inch of wiggle room. She was scared and confused, but there was nothing she could do. As she was now, she had no choice but to just continue following her captor.

"Um… Th-that thing that happened earlier," Madoka started, "When everything around us stopped... you're the one who caused that?"

"Yes, but I'm limited to how much I can use it. That's why I'm saving it for when we get back into town."

"How is that possible?"

"I'm what's called a magical girl." Homura explained, "And that is my power. It usually only affects me, but if I'm in direct contact with someone it will affect them as well." She glanced back and lifted the rope leash to show it to Madoka. "This rope is sufficient enough contact for that effect."

"I-I see," Madoka trailed off. She glanced down at herself, to examine the rope around her chest, but noticed something else and her face turned bright red. "Uh-um… H-Homura?"

"Yes?"

"Earlier, I guess when we were struggling... W-well, you see… um..."

"What is it?" Homura asked curiously, looking over her shoulder at the blushing Madoka.

"It's just that, you see, my skirt got pulled up a bit... and..."

Homura hadn't noticed before, but it was true. Madoka's skirt was pulled up high enough that her panties were nearly visible, and her thighs were completely exposed. Madoka looked away, her face completely red. Homura could not help but be embarrassed herself, and tried her best not to look.

"I... eh... here," Homura mumbled, and she went to pull the skirt back down. She looked to the sky as she did this and operated on touch alone. She pulled the skirt down a bit and glanced down there just long enough to make sure it was decent. She saw that it was, and they both started walking again, not saying anything more about it beyond that.

 **IV**

"Ok, we are near the end of the park," Homura said to Madoka. "I'm going to stop time again. Like I said, it's limited so we have to be really fast from that point forward, understand?"

"I suppose." Madoka said, still a bit reluctant to take orders from this girl.

"Seriously, if time returns to normal while we are standing in the middle of town in broad daylight it will mean big problems for both of us. If you try anything funny or try to slow me down at all, I'll have to get forceful with you. I don't want to do that, but I will."

Madoka got angry at her for making demands like that. "And just how long are you planning to keep me like this anyway!"

"As long as necessary," Homura said, maintaining her slow controlled tone. "Now, let's go." With that, the gears on her shield turned and the world returned to that eerie windless version of itself from earlier.

Homura started running and Madoka followed close behind. A few times Homura was just a little too fast and the rope she held grew tense and snapped Madoka forward, making her stumble. When this would happen Homura would just quickly turn her head and say "Faster." Madoka wanted to complain, but Homura was moving forward to quickly for her to gather her thoughts together. She just ended up grunting and forced her legs to move.

As they ran through the town Madoka looked around in wonderment at all the motionless sights. She saw a group of children in mid run, playing some game but completely frozen like statues. She saw a man with a cigarette butt he just flicked away still hanging in the air beside him. Even the smoke coming off the end of the butt was frozen in time.

She saw a car that had just run over a puddle of water, and the beads from the splash were hanging in the air like small crystals. Again, she slowed down as she stared in wonderment but was quickly snapped forward again by Homura who once again turned and said "I said move faster!"

This made Madoka angry, but she couldn't do anything about it, so she obeyed.

She was getting tired and starting to run out of breath. The ropes tied tightly around her chest weren't helping the situation, making it difficult for her to get a good breath of air in. She also found running to be awkward with her arms pulled behind her back like this. With each long step her body swayed back and forth. All the momentum was coming from her legs, causing her calves to wear out and her muscles to burn. "How much further is it!" Madoka called over to her.

"Not much further, we are going to a hotel. It's not too busy this time of year so we can find an empty room on the top floor for a while, until I come up with something better."

Homura noticed a few strange movements from Madoka out of the corner of her eye. She was likely trying to pull some of the rope free and unbind her arms as they ran. Homura didn't worry about this, though. In this situation it was still natural for Madoka to want to escape, but Homura was confident the bindings would hold. As long as Madoka kept moving quickly, they wouldn't have a problem.

They continued to run, and after a few minutes Madoka stopped suddenly. This time, instead of her being jerked by the rope it was Homura who almost stumbled as she was jerked back.

"What!" Homura turned and spat at her, a bit more aggressively than she intended. She knew the magic was almost up and they were in a bad place for that to happen. They were right on a busy street full of cars and people. If two girls suddenly appeared out of nowhere, one who was tied up and panting, things probably would not go over too well. Moreover, it would give Madoka a way to escape her.

Madoka fell down to her knees and gasped for breath. Her face was completely flushed, and her skin glistened with sweat as she looked up at Homura. "I- I can't." Her chest moved up and down violently, her breathing was heavy. "I need a break! I can't run anymore." Her arms fidgeted, and her fingers feebly scratched at the rope around her wrists. "P-please!"

Homura glanced around anxiously. "This is no good." She looked down the street. "It is only two blocks away please bare with it just a little longer."

"I can't." She said again, now her head lowered all the way to the ground, gasping in and out violently. "I can't even breathe, the rope is too tight!" She looked really pathetic in the state she was in, and it made Homura feel horrible.

Homura bent down over her and put her hand on top of her head. "You really reached your limit, huh?" Homura cursed herself for putting Madoka through this. She knew the poor girl ran until she really just couldn't take it anymore. Plus the ropes must have made it even tougher for her. Homura hadn't thought of that before, and now felt terribly guilty about it. "Come on, we'll just walk the rest of the way then."

Homura grabbed the rope harness under the back of her neck and pulled her back to her feet. Madoka groaned as she did this. "Walk fast though, ok? I'll help you. It's just another two blocks."

Madoka still breathed heavily as they continued. Homura was in great shape because she had spent decades training for the fight against Walpurgisnacht, and therefore wasn't too tired from the run. Madoka was just an ordinary highschool girl, however, and Homura had just asked a lot of her. Still, they couldn't delay too much. They had to keep moving. With Homura pushing her along she at least managed to maintain a speed slightly faster than walking, although Madoka would pant with each of her heavy steps.

They cleared the first block. Madoka's breathing was still abnormal, but it was getting better. Homura took out her SoulGem and looked at it.

A healthy SoulGem glows brightly, and an unhealthy one turns black and ugly. If it gets too black it is at risk of becoming a GriefSeed, if that happens its owner turns into a witch.

Aside from emotional turmoil, using magic also causes it to turn black. Homura had used a lot of magic already. Her SoulGem wasn't completely black yet, but it was not looking good. If she pushed too far it would soon become a serious life threatening problem. That's why they needed to hurry. She knew she could push it a little while longer, but she would need to find a GriefSeed soon after.

"Madoka," Homura said. "Just one last sprint, it's right there, can you see it?" Madoka looked at her pleadingly. "Sorry, but it's not a choice." Homura then grabbed the rope leashed to her chest and started running. She yanked on it to force Madoka to quicken her pace as well.

They reached the hotel quickly, Madoka now looking like she was ready to pass out. She groaned and sighed through her heavy breathing. Her legs wobbled, and she looked like she might lose her balance. Homura quickly grabbed onto her arm to steady her.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Madoka just looked at her with exhausted irritation, but her eyes still pleaded for release. Homura wanted to comfort her, but there was no time for that. So, she put her hand on Madoka's shoulder, and led her through the front door.

Inside, there was a cozy little lobby with couches and a small coffee table in front of a TV set. The clerk was sitting behind the front counter, frozen in time.

"Over there, the stairwell," Homura said, and pushed Madoka forward.

When they crossed through the doorway, they were at the bottom of a long winding flight of stairs. "This is good," said Homura, "I'm going to stop using my magic now, so time will resume."

She knew Madoka still likely had plans of escape in her head, so before Homura resumed time she had to make sure Madoka would not try anything. She suddenly pushed Madoka against the wall, making her gasp. She stuck a finger in her face and looked at her with such intensity Madoka could do nothing but shrink away. "Don't you dare scream," Homura warned her. "Don't you even _think_ about it, understand?" Madoka nodded slowly, her eyes wide and frightened. It seemed the point had gotten across, and Homura backed off. "It won't do any good anyway. I'll just stop time again the second you do, I still have enough left for that."

She didn't want to get so mean with Madoka like that, but she had to be absolutely sure Madoka wouldn't do something foolish at the last minute. True, she could remedy the situation by stopping time, as she said, but her SoulGem was in bad shape and she would still need to have enough power left to fight a witch and get a GriefSeed sometime in the near future.

With all that said, the gears turned and time resumed to normal.

"We have to go all the way to the top," Homura whispered. Despair filled Madoka's eyes at the thought of putting her poor legs through even more punishment. "Don't worry, we can take it slowly, there's no rush now so you don't need to push yourself." Homura turned to Madoka with compassion in her eyes and touched her cheek lovingly. "You did really well Madoka." But, Madoka shrank away from this gesture even more than when Homura scolded her.

Homura realized Madoka hated her right now. It couldn't be helped; less than an hour ago she was walking home through the park on a normal day with not a care in the world. Now she was at the mercy of someone who surely seemed like an evil sadistic person. It would be ok though, Homura assured herself, soon everything will be explained and she could start working on repairing their relationship. After all, Madoka may not know Homura, but Homura knew Madoka very well. She probably knew her even better than she knew herself.

Homura looked up the flight of stairs. "Ready?"

Madoka nodded pitifully.


	4. Whats a Magical Girl?

**Chapter 4**

 **I**

Sayaka had gone to the hospital to meet with Kyosuke after departing from Madoka earlier that day. She hung out with him there and they listened to music together for a while. It was sad; he didn't seem to want to say much these days and mostly just stayed quiet, staring out the window with a lost expression in his eyes. He must have been horribly depressed after the accident that left him crippled and unable to play his violin. Still, she thought there was at least some happiness in him when they listened to classical music together, and she was happy to share that with him.

She got home just as the sun was starting to go down. She kicked off her shoes as she came through the front door and yawned. She was hungry, so she went to the kitchen to make herself some noodles. Before she made any progress with that, however, her phone started ringing. "Who could that be this late?" she asked herself, as she walked away from the stove and to the phone on the other side of the kitchen.

She checked the caller ID, and when she saw it was Madoka's home number she smiled and picked up.

"Hey Madoka, what's up?"

"Sayaka, is that you?" It wasn't Madoka after all, it took Sayaka only a moment to realize it was actually her mother.

"Oh, Mrs. Kaname, how are you doing? Um, yeah this is Sayaka. I'm sorry, I thought you were Madoka."

"I see... I suppose that means she's not with you then?"

"No, we were together for a while after school but we parted ways a few hours ago."

"Did she say where she was going after that?"

"Well, I thought she was going to go home... but she didn't actually say. Has she not been back at all yet?"

"No, I haven't seen her since this morning. I'm starting to worry, it's not like her to stay out past her curfew like this. I was hoping you knew something."

"Well, I could call a few people and see if they have seen her."

"Thank you Sayaka. If you hear anything, let me know right away."

"Ok, and don't worry Mrs. Kaname, I'm sure something just came up."

Sayaka hung the phone up and dialed Hitomi immediately. She said she hadn't seen Madoka either since leaving the cafe after school. Sayaka then tried a couple other friends from school, no one knew anything. She thought about calling one of the teachers, thinking maybe Madoka forgot something at school and went back, but decided not to. That scenario was a bit unlikely anyway, and she didn't want to get Madoka in trouble with the school.

Sayaka was starting to worry herself, but being out of leads there was nothing she could do so she started cooking her noodles. She decided to wait a couple hours and call the Kaname residence again. Hopefully Madoka would be back by then and everything would be explained. She couldn't help being troubled, though.

She stirred her noodles and thought... what if something bad happened to Madoka? She shook her head to stop herself from thinking like that. It was too early to jump to any conclusions; Madoka was just late coming home, that's all!

"Stupid Madoka," Sayaka whispered to herself. "Making me worry like this... If she doesn't hurry and get back home soon I'll never get to sleep tonight."

When her noodles were done she poured them into a bowl and sat down at the table. She ate slowly, with her mind too occupied to fully focus on eating. "Tomorrow, when I see her at school, I'll have to bully her for making me worry like this."

Just then she thought she heard something. Her head shot up and she looked around. She had thought she heard someone call her name.

 _"Sayaka."_ There it was again, this time there was no denying it. She stood up and looked around. It sounded more like a whisper, like someone was speaking directly into her ear, but there was no one around.

"H-hello?"

 _"Don't be scared, Sayaka Miki. Come outside."_

"Am I going crazy?" She whispered to herself, but the mysterious voice seemed to have heard it all the same.

 _"You're not crazy. There's someone out here who wants to meet you."_

Sayaka rushed to the door and looked out the window. She didn't see anyone at first, so she unlocked the door and stepped outside. The concrete step at the front of her house felt cold against her bare feet.

Then, she saw them. Standing in her yard there was a blond girl wearing a strange costume, and standing by her feet was some kind of animal that Sayaka had never seen before. It was dark, but a nearby streetlamp lit them just enough for Sayaka to be able to see them clearly. The animal at her feet could best be described as a cross between a cat and a rabbit. Its red eyes glowed so brightly in the darkness that they dampened the rest of its features.

"Sorry to startle you," said the girl. She stepped forward and bowed, "My name is Mami Tomoe, it's nice to meet you!"

 **II**

They ascended the flights of stairs without any mishaps which would require stopping time. Homura helped Madoka along, since her legs were completely worn out, and with her arms tied behind her back she couldn't even use the railing to help herself climb. Homura had one arm around Madoka's shoulders, holding onto her firmly to reduce any chance of her losing her balance and falling backwards. Her other hand was on Madoka's side, and with each step Homura would pull her up to make it as easy for her as possible.

Madoka accepted all of this in silence. Part of her didn't want any help from this girl, another part was grateful for any relief on her legs. She had trouble making sense of this situation she was in. Being tied up, and at this girls mercy, there were no choices at her disposal and no decisions to make. She just had to accept whatever Homura asked of her, and go where she was told to go.

When they made it to the top story (Madoka counted twelve) Homura stuck her head out the door and looked up and down the hallway before continuing.

They went to the last door on the right. Homura bent down by the doorknob and used a hairpin to pick the lock. It only took her a minute or so of fiddling around with the pin, before she heard a soft click and the door creaked open. She used this room as a home base in many of her past lives, and knew it would be a safe place to keep Madoka for at least a little while. At this time of year the top floor of the building was completely deserted.

This room was also on the corner of the building and thus it was bigger than the average hotel room. An additional advantage to this is it only shared one wall with another room. Homura knew from past timelines the room beside them would also be vacant for the next month. Even though they were in a relatively public place, the chances of being discovered here were actually very slim.

Inside, there was a good sized living room with a widescreen TV. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a marble bar which had seating on both sides of it. There was a bedroom next to the kitchen, and the bathroom was directly to the left of the front door where Madoka and Homura now stood.

Homura led Madoka inside and locked the door behind herself.

"Not bad, right?" Homura asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but Madoka wasn't in any mood pleasantries. No doubt she still had plans of escape in the back of her mind, but it seemed she was willing to be obedient for now. "I'll have to make a trip out to get food and clean clothes for us tomorrow. Or I could steal some from downstairs tonight if you're hungry now."

Madoka looked around the room, and fidgeted against the ropes. Now that they weren't in motion, she was more aware of how uncomfortable the rope felt. "Can you untie me now, please?" She asked, her voice was soft and resigned. At first Homura wanted to deny her this request, but realized how impractical it would be to keep her permanently tied up. Plus, there would be zero chance of them having a friendly relationship if she went with that approach.

"Ok," said Homura. "But I'll need to tie you up again when we go to bed. I'll make sure it's not as encumbering as this current tie, though." She walked over to the couch. "Come sit down over here, and I'll do it."

For the first time since the park, Madoka wasn't forced to move in any one direction. The rope leash which was tied to her chest hung down to the floor, and Madoka looked down at it. There was a sense of bewilderment on her face. Perhaps even now she hadn't fully grasped this situation she was in.

They both sat down on the living room couch. Madoka turned her back to Homura, and let her get to work at undoing the rope. Untying her arms was easy enough, although Homura did notice ropemarks were left on her skin. She figured that should go away soon enough, though. When that was done, she had to get around to undoing the ropes tied around Madoka's chest. Homura tried her best to do this without being too invasive, although it couldn't be helped that her hand brushed Madoka's breasts from time to time. If Madoka noticed, she didn't say anything about it.

When all the rope was gone and she was completely untied Madoka breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of being constricted like that and then suddenly being set free was such a relief it almost felt pleasurable. A tingling sensation swept through her body. She rubbed her arms and examined where the rope had left marks. Homura wanted to apologize for the rope marks and explain that she had never tied someone up before and didn't know that would happen, but she thought better of it, and just kept her mouth shut.

"So how long are you going to try and keep me here?" Madoka asked, as she started massaging the stiffness out of her arms. Homura didn't answer right away. The truth was she was planning to keep Madoka her captive _indefinitely_ , meaning not just days or weeks but maybe years. She knew Madoka probably hadn't realized this was her intention yet. Right now Madoka probably thought she would be back home in a few days or so. Homura worried how she would react when she was told the truth, and couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I'm not sure yet," Homura answered. "It depends on some things." She sighed and brushed her hair back. "There is a lot we need to talk about, and you deserve an explanation for all of this. The problem is there is so much, and I don't know where to begin."

Madoka didn't seem to pay much attention to her, she was looking towards the bathroom, her expression unreadable.

"Mind if I take a shower?" she asked. Apparently she wasn't ready to hear whatever it was Homura had to say to her.

Homura didn't see any reason not to let her shower. There were no windows or other ways of escaping from the bathroom, so she said, "Okay."

 **III**

Homura sat with her back against the bathroom door. She was wondering if this plan could really work or not. How could she possibly keep a watch on Madoka twenty four hours a day? She would need to go out and buy (or steal) food for them every day, as well as other living necessities. She would have to sleep sometimes and take showers herself. Not to mention she still needed to fight witches in order to keep her SoulGem clean.

Was she suppose to just tie Madoka up and gag her every single time she had to go somewhere? Even doing that, there was still no guarantee that nobody would find her here. Not to mention Kyubey was a clever little rodent, and the full extent of his powers were unknown to her. She wasn't even one hundred percent sure he wouldn't be able to just find Madoka anyway.

And to think, she planned to keep this going for years, until Madoka was an adult and unable to become a magical girl. It seemed impossible. She hated herself for doing this. For all her efforts to try and save Madoka this is the best plan she could come up with. Still, this _was_ the best path she could see right now and as long as it worked and kept Madoka safe from Kyubey, it would all be worth it in the end.

She sat back and listened to the sound of the shower running, and then she heard something... She heard the sound of Madoka crying…

 _So, that's why she rushed into the shower... because she didn't want to cry in front of me._

Homura buried her face in her left hand and her right hand punched the carpeted floor. Tears silently streamed down her own face. Her body heaved as she suppressed her emotions, and she gritted her teeth to hold back the sobs, not wanting Madoka to hear her.

 _Damn it! Why does it have to turn out this way? Madoka… I don't want this. Believe me, I don't want this! I've tried everything else…. I can't see another way!_

Then she suddenly stood up and shook the tears away. She left the hotel room and started walking down the hall. She figured she had at least a few minutes to gather some things while Madoka was showering. Plus she couldn't stand to sit there and listen to Madoka cry, knowing that it was her all fault.

She didn't notice it, but her SoulGem was slowly turning blacker and blacker.

 **IV**

Madoka stepped out of the shower about half an hour later, feeling at least little better now that she was clean and had a chance to get some of her emotions out. Little swirls of steam danced around her body, and fogged the mirror. She used her hand to wipe away the fog, and she took a good look at herself. She had taken her ribbons off before getting in the shower, so now her long pink hair was down and wet against her back.

She examined her body, taking note of the rope marks that were on her. The marks on her arms were the deepest, but there were also some lighter imprints around her breasts from where they were tied. She ran a finger along those lighter imprints and frowned.

She still had no idea why this was happening, but she honestly could not bring herself to think Homura was entirely a bad person. Still, she wouldn't allow Homura to keep her like this. She had to come up with an escape plan, she just didn't know how yet. The fact that Homura had the ability to stop time would make things extra difficult. How could she get away from someone who could just magically appear in front of her? She didn't know, but she would have to think of something. There was simply no way she could stay like this!

It was amazing though, seeing the world stand completely still. It was a bit scary, but she never would have thought before that something like that was possible. She no longer thought that any of this was a dream either. She had abandoned that fleeting hope, because this was just too real for that to be a possibility.

She started drying herself off with a towel, and looked toward her school uniform that she folded up on the counter. It was dirty now, and probably was starting to smell, but she had no choice but to put it back on.

Then, there was a light knock on the door.

"Madoka, I found some pajamas you can wear. I'm tossing them in, okay?" Then the door cracked open very slightly. Homura only stuck her hand in enough to toss the clothes onto the counter, then shut the door again.

 _Well, that's one problem solved_ , Madoka thought. She finished drying off and put the pajamas on. They were made of a soft comfortable material, but both the top and bottom were just a tad too big for her. It was close enough, though. It also had long sleeves so at least the rope marks on her arms and wrists would not be visible anymore.

Part of her just wanted to stay in the bathroom all night and not have to face Homura. It's not that she hated her, although she was kind of scary, Madoka just felt stuck between a mix of emotions and not understanding why she was in this situation. As long as she was stuck here though, it wouldn't be possible to completely avoid Homura. So, she took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.

She could smell something cooking, and she heard Homura banging around in the kitchen area. She got closer and could see that Homura had a small frying pan cooking a piece of bread with an egg on top of it.

"What's that?" Madoka asked.

Homura looked up, just now noticing Madoka was out of the bathroom. "Egg in a basket," she said, "I believe it is a British recipe... I saw it in a movie once. This is my first time actually making it, though." She flipped the bread off the pan and onto a plate and offered it to Madoka. "Here. All I could find were eggs and bread for food. I hope it's ok. I'll get something better for us tomorrow." Madoka didn't bother asking where she got the food from, or the pajamas for that matter. She just assumed Homura had stolen it from another hotel room while she was in the shower.

"Actually, I'm not really hungry."

Homura nodded and set it down on the counter. "It's here if you change your mind." She then turned off the stove, and sat down on the kitchen side of the bar. She rested her chin on the back of her hands and looked at Madoka, trying to gauge her current emotional state. She seemed to have calmed down, at least. She was still just a bit bewildered, and who wouldn't be? Less than three hours ago it was just an ordinary day for the poor girl. "If you're ready to hear my story, I can explain everything to you."

"Um... I guess." Madoka then took a seat at the bar opposite from her.

Homura sighed and brushed her hair back. "Like I said before, there is so much that it is hard to know where to start."

She seemed to being thinking deeply on this. After a few moments, Madoka said "Well... what _exactly_ is a Magical Girl? Why don't you start with that?"

Homura nodded. "Alright, a Magical Girl is...


	5. She's all mine now

**Chapter 5**

 **I**

Sayaka had invited the blonde girl in, along with that weird animal who's been sticking by her feet. Was it her pet? She offered her a seat at the dining room table. The cat-thing jumped up and sat directly on the tabletop, right next to Mami.

"Sorry to show up so late and unexpected like this," Mami started, "I hope we didn't startle you."

"Eh, no it's fine." Now that they were out of the dark, Sayaka realized something. "Wait, I've seen you before. You go to my school don't you?"

"That's right," Mami smiled, "I'm a senior in class A."

"Right, I knew I saw you before. I think this is the first time we've actually met, though." Then Sayaka asked the question that had been bothering her the most since this strange duo showed up on her lawn. She pointed at Kyubey and asked, "So what the heck is that thing anyway?"

"Hey! I'm not a thing! My name is Kyubey!"

"Woh!" Sayaka flinched backwards. "It can talk? But, I didn't even see its mouth move."

"Kyubey can speak directly into our minds, telepathically," Mami explained.

Sayaka nodded skeptically and looked at Kyubey as if she were trying to find the secret behind some kind of magic trick. " _Riiigght._.. Well, what are you doing here anyway?"

"It's about your friend, Madoka," answered Mami. As soon as she said Madoka's name, Sayaka stood up and slammed her hands down on the table.

"Madoka!? Do you know where she is?"

Mami and Kyubey both looked at each other for a moment, then Mami looked back to Sayaka and shook her head apologetically. "Sorry, but no, not exactly. We do know what happened to her, though."

"Well? What is it?" Sayaka demanded.

"This might sound strange," said Mami. "But we think she was kidnapped by someone. It was a black haired girl who looked to be in the same grade as you."

"Black haired girl?" Sayaka made a fist and punched down on the table with gritted teeth. " _Homura.._."

"You know her?" Mami asked.

"Not really, she is a transfer student and today was her first day. She was saying some really strange things to Madoka earlier and... Madoka…" Sayaka shook her head with frustration. "Is Madoka alright? Did she hurt her?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't know much. All we know for sure is that this Homura girl is connected to her disappearance."

"I don't want to scare you," Kyubey said, "But Homura is a dangerous person. Earlier today she attacked me for completely no reason! I barely got away alive. However, I can't say if she has actually brought any harm to Madoka or not. As Mami said, all we know for sure is that it is because of Homura that she has gone missing. You see, I had actually been following the two of you for a while because I wanted to contract you to become Magical Girls!"

"Magical Girls?"

"I'll explain in a moment. Anyway, while I was following Madoka home from school, Homura suddenly appeared out of nowhere and approached her. They talked for a little while, and then Madoka tried to run away, but the next thing I knew they had both completely vanished without a trace!"

"Vanished? What are you talking about? AH! And why the hell am I talking to a stuffed animal!"

"I mean they vanished! One second they were there and then the next they were completely gone. And, I am not a stuffed animal, I'm actually a highly developed life form."

"How am I supposed to believe this?" Sayaka asked, "People don't just vanish!"

"Normal people, no," said Mami, "However, it's reasonable to think a Magical Girl would have the power to make that happen."

"Now with the Magical Girl thing again. What the heck is that anyway?"

"It would probably be easiest if I just showed you." Mami stood up and held out her hand. A bright light formed around her, and then a long barreled musket appeared seemingly out of nowhere. It just floated in the air, surrounded by that light until Mami grabbed it. The light then disappeared and she rested the barrel of the gun over her shoulder.

Sayaka jumped back so far she nearly fell out of her chair. Lost for words, she just stood there gaping.

"And there's more to it than just that," Mami explained, seeming to not pay much mind to Sayaka's shocked expression. "Kyubey here picks out girls he feels are worthy of being given this power. Then he will grant them any wish they desire, and in exchange they must become Magical Girls and dedicate their lives to fighting witches."

Sayaka, still lost in total shock, just stared with her lip quivering.

"That's why I contacted you, Sayaka Miki," said Kyubey, "I would like you to sign my contract and become a Magical Girl! As Mami said, in exchange for this I can grant you any wish you desire! Do you want to know where Madoka is? Or would you like her to appear right in this room this very instant? Just wish it and I can make it happen!"

"You... can do that?" asked Sayaka, every bit of skepticism was gone from her by now.

"But wait," Mami interrupted. "It is important you understand that being a Magical Girl is a dangerous lifestyle. Many of us die very young in our battles with witches. Furthermore, you only get one wish so make sure it is for the one thing you want most in the world. Once the contract is made, there is no going back, and there is _no_ changing your wish."

Kyubey looked at Mami and his tail waved. His face didn't seem capable of showing any expression, but somehow Sayaka got the feeling that he was annoyed by Mami's explanation.

"Witches?" Sayaka whispered, "What is that?"

"They are evil creatures whose sole purpose is to bring despair to humans. Regular people can't actually see them, but us Magical Girls can and it is our job to kill them. Sayaka, this is sudden, but I would like you to come along on a witch hunt with me. I want you to see first hand what this Magical Girl thing is all about before you make a decision. Also, since Homura is also a Magical Girl there is a good possibility we will cross paths with her while on our hunt. If we want to find out what happened to your friend, I think this is the best way to start."

 **II**

"So the reason you needed to... to kidnap me, is so that this Kyubey wouldn't be able to contact me and trick me into making a contract with him?"

Homura nodded. She had told Madoka all about Kyubey, his contract, and what it was to be a Magical Girl. She told her about witches and how Magical Girls were doomed to one day become the very thing they were sworn to fight against. She even explained her ability to go back in time, and how it is she knew the future, but still kept the details vague.

She didn't tell her about Walpurgisnacht, or the likelihood of Sayaka becoming a witch in the near future. If she told her these things Madoka would only want to try and fight against it, and it would be impossible for her to explain how futile it was. If she was to keep Madoka safe, she knew that she needed to keep her in the dark.

"How many times have you relived this timeline?"

"More than I can count," Homura answered.

"But Homura, even if everything you told me is true. It still doesn't make sense... Kyubey needs my permission before making me a Magical Girl, right?"

"That is correct."

"Well now that you have warned me about it, all I have to do is turn him down. Right? So, there isn't any need for all of this! You can just let me go, and if Kyubey contacts me I promise I won't wish for anything, or sign his contract."

"You think I haven't warned you about this before?" Homura spoke sternly, her face becoming hard and dominating. "Kyubey is a master of manipulation. If I allow him to be in contact with you, sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation where you think becoming a Magical Girl is the best possible choice you can make. If simply warning you of the danger was enough to keep you safe, then I wouldn't have to take this extreme measure."

"But if being a Magical Girl is so horrible, then what situation could that possibly be? What terrible thing could happen that it would make me choose being a Magical Girl?"

Madoka might play the silly school girl, but the truth is she was quite clever. Already she could tell that Homura was keeping something from her, and she was trying to get to the bottom of what it was. Homura couldn't tell her, though. She had to just keep her in the dark, and shelter her from all the evil things to come.

"What can I say? Sooner or later Kyubey always gets to you, and you always ask to become a Magical Girl. This time won't be any different! Not unless I keep you safe right here with me!" Homura stood up and started yelling at her without even realizing she was doing it.

Madoka finally managed to will herself into a confrontational mood, so she stood up and yelled right back at her. "And how long are you planning to keep this up!? Weeks?! Months?!" Homura started to look away, but Madoka grabbed her hand and forced her to look her in the eyes. When she knew Homura was paying attention she whispered, _"Years?"_ Homura turned her head away again, unable to answer. "H-Homura. That's horrible..." Madoka said in a low voice, "Th-that's just as bad as anything this Kyubey person could do to me!"

At this, Homura's eyes lit up so furiously Madoka swore she could even see fire in them. Madoka had seen many different sides of Homura on this day, but this is the first time she saw actual rage, and she got scared and shrank away from it.

"It's NOT!" Homura screamed at her and grabbed her by the wrists. She stepped around the bar then pushed her against the wall and kept her pinned there. "It's not the same! You understand? Don't ever say that because it's WRONG!" Tears started welling up in her eyes and her voice trembled. " _I'm_ protecting you, _I'm_ keeping you safe!"

"Homura..." Madoka spoke very slowly. Homura pushed her away and started walking towards the front door. Madoka looked after her, not sure what to do or say, thinking maybe it was best to just stay quiet for now. She could see that Homura was looking at something in the palm of her hand, but since her back was turned Madoka couldn't see what it was.

It was her SoulGem, and if it was in bad shape before, now it was officially in the danger zone. Homura had thought she could wait until tomorrow to find a GriefSeed, but it was clear that it would be far too late by that time. She needed to find a witch and kill it tonight; otherwise, she was doomed. She would turn into a witch herself, and the girl she dedicated her life to protecting would become her first victim.

Homura turned her head and looked at Madoka. Her eyes were bloodshot, with wet streaks of tears running down her cheeks. Her face held an expression of complete despair, the likes of which Madoka had never seen before. It scared Madoka, but also made her feel incredibly sorry for the girl. Part of her wanted to reach out and comfort her, and if it were not for the fact she was so afraid of her, that's exactly what she would have done.

"Madoka, I have to go out now." Her voice was dark and heavy, "That means I have to tie you up... _Okay?_ " Upon saying that, her shield appeared on her arm and the gears started turning. Madoka, realizing what was about to happen, jumped forward.

 _"HOMURA! No! Wai-..._

It was too late. Time stopped for Madoka while she was still in mid leap. Her feet were off the ground, and her hand was stretched out with elongated fingers reaching for Homura.

Homura stepped around to where she had stashed the rope, and then got to work.

"It's okay, it's okau, it's going to be okay," she whispered to herself. "Just go out there and get a GriefSeed, and it'll all be okay."

 **III**

She knew she had to move quickly. Aside from emotional trauma blackening her SoulGem, using her time stop magic was also doing the trick. She couldn't stand the idea of another struggle with Madoka, though, so she kept Madoka frozen for as long as she could while tying her up. All she had to do was be careful not to make too much contact with her and she would stay that way. There were times throughout the process when she accidentally touched Madoka who then became unfrozen, but Homura was quick to cease the contact and refreeze her before she could get a word out.

The simplest way she could think of was to create four nooses and tie each around one of Madoka's limbs. The hardest part would be getting her into the bedroom at the back of the apartment. To accomplish this, she had no choice but to grab Madoka and drag her into the room. Before she did that, however, she found a pillowcase and stuffed it into Madoka's mouth, then tied a small length of rope around her mouth and the back of her head to keep the gag in place. This way, Homura wouldn't have to suffer her screams and her pleas while she dragged her into the room and pushed her onto the bed.

When Homura was all done, she had Madoka tied spread eagle to the bed. Each limb was pulled tight enough to the nearest bedpost that she had barely an inch of wiggle room. Homura took a moment to regain her composure, then let the gears spin and time returned to normal once more.

Madoka looked from one arm to the other, then down at her legs. She pulled at each binding, testing them. A slight look of panic crept over her face, then she looked up at Homura and mumbled something incomprehensible through her gag. All she could really move at all was her butt, her chest, and her head. With that little bit of movement, she thrust herself towards Homura, a mix of emotions coming over her face, and muffled speech coming through her gag as she yelled at her.

"I wonder what you are trying to say..." Homura spoke distantly. Somehow, seeing Madoka like this caused all those negative emotions Homura had been feeling to melt away. She couldn't help but notice how cute she was. Her long pink hair was still slightly damp from the shower, and a few loose strands hung over her face. Her soft lips puckered out and held tight against the cloth gag. Her small chest moved up and down with her breathing. Homura thought even the pajamas looked cute on her.

Madoka's expressive eyes watched her, noticing the subtle change in Homura's attitude.

Homura had been standing at the foot of the bed, but now she walked around and stood by Madoka's side. Her hand reached out and lightly brushed away those strands of hair, but instead of pulling away, her hand turned over and the backs of her knuckles rested on Madoka's cheek.

Madoka's eyes watched the hand as it started to slowly move up and down her cheek as if it were trying to sooth her.

"Sorry about that gag," Homura's voice was as soft as the expression in her eyes, "This part of the building is mostly vacant, but it's not totally abandoned. It would be bad if someone found you here, right?"

Madoka's eyes moved from the hand that was stroking her face and looked up at Homura. Homura watched those beautiful eyes and took in every ounce of their expression. She glanced down to Madoka's chest and wondered how she would react if her hand were to move just a bit lower. It was just a passing curiosity, and besides, Homura knew she still had something important that needed to be done. In a past life she could have done it, but that was a different life, and with a different Madoka who actually loved her.

She pulled her hand away. "Please don't hate me, Madoka," she said. "I don't think I could bare it if you did." With that, she walked to the door. "Don't worry, I won't be long. I just have a couple things to take care of and then I'll be right back. Try to get some sleep until then, okay?"

Before turning out the light and shutting the door, she took one last look at her cute little hostage. For the first time, not just since the start of this day, but since the start of her life as a Magic Girl: Homura felt at ease. Now that Madoka was under her control she felt she didn't have to worry so much. She didn't have to worry about Madoka getting hurt, or making any foolish mistakes.

 _She's all mine now..._

 _...and I'm going to protect her with everything I have._


	6. Leave that part to me

**Chapter 6**

 **I**

"One thing I don't get," said Sayaka, walking along the dark city streets side by side with Mami, while Kyubey trailed close behind them. She was carrying a baseball bat over her shoulder which she had taken from her basement. Mami decided to just humor her, and not point out that the bat would not do much good for her against any witches. "It's a Magical Girl's job to fight these witch things for the sake of protecting regular humans, right?"

"More or less," Mami agreed.

"So then why the heck would Homura want to abduct Madoka?"

Kyubey looked up at her and said, "I imagine it's because she somehow knew that I was planning to contact Madoka about becoming a Magical Girl, and wants to put a stop to it."

"But shouldn't she _want_ there to be more Magical Girls? I mean, the more there are the easier it would be to take out all the witches, right? The more the merrier, you know?"

"Not necessarily," said Mami. "The truth is, although Magical Girls fight for the same cause, more often than not they are in competition with each other. You see, when a witch is defeated the girl who beat it is entitled to certain rewards."

"Rewards?"

"GriefSeeds. They are required in order for us to cleanse our SoulGems."

"Eh... SoulGems?"

Mami smiled as she brought her hand up to the flower shaped hairpin on the side of her head. It started radiating a soft yellow light and started to morph and change form. When it was done it took the shape of a tiny egg concealed in a small metal frame. Sayaka awed in amazement; it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.

"This is a SoulGem," Mami explained. "You get one when you make a contract with Kyubey. It is the source of our power and is the thing that makes us Magical Girls. Right now my SoulGem is in pretty good shape, but as time goes on and as I use magic all those bright colors will start to grow darker and darker. That's why you need to use GriefSeeds to cleanse them."

"And witches drop GriefSeeds?" Sayaka asked.

"That's right."

"I see... I guess I understand why Magical Girls would fight over it then."

"Well, we are not all like that. It's not entirely unheard of for us Magical Girls to help each other out. I've heard that in some of the bigger cities there are even groups who band together and go patrolling for witches on a daily basis. That's a bit uncommon, but it does happen. It's true that more often than not when two Magical Girls cross paths it's more likely for them to just end up fighting."

"Still, I don't get it. Why Madoka?" Sayaka asked, "Kyubey wanted to make me a Magical Girl as well, so how come I wasn't target by Homura? Mami, you actually _are_ a Magical Girl and she has left you completely alone so far, right?"

"I may have an explanation," said Kyubey as he sped his pace enough to walk ahead of them. His little head turned around, his eerie glowing red eyes stared at Sayaka without expression as he walked with his small quick steps. "Madoka is an anomaly among my Magical Girl candidates. She has it in her to be one of the most powerful Magical Girls I have ever created! If she were to become one she would be able to single handedly keep this entire city safe from witches. More than that, even, it would not surprise me if she could handle this entire region alone!"

"I see..." said Mami. "If Homura is the competitive type of Magical Girl it would make sense then that she would want to stop Madoka from becoming one. But Kyubey, how is it that she could have known all that? How could she have known that you were even considering Madoka in the first place?"

"I have no idea, to be honest. Homura is an anomaly herself. Somehow she has become a Magical Girl even though I have never even met her, and she seems to know things she couldn't possibly have any knowledge of. Not to mention her magic is unlike any I have ever seen before."

"It is all very strange," Mami agreed, "But perhaps the answer will start to reveal itself in time. For now our best course of action is to continue hunting witches and we are bound to run into Homura eventually. That is our best chance at finding and saving Madoka."

Sayaka was still stuck on what Kyubey had said about how powerful a Magical Girl Madoka could be. It was hard to believe the clumsy little schoolgirl she was such good friends with could really be that type of person.

Mami stopped as they were passing a dark alley. She and Kyubey both looked down into it's dark depths. It was littered with garbage and debris and there was a rancid smell coming from deep down inside. Sayaka noticed what they were doing and looked back and forth between them.

"Is something down there?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Mami. "Looks like we got lucky. We managed to find a witch already."

"R-really?" Sayaka suddenly felt a pull of anxiety. She was brave about the idea of fighting witches until this very moment. Perhaps it was looking down that dark alley, and staring into the unknown that got to her, but she still managed to force a brave face. "Well, alright then. Let's go get it!"

"Sayaka, you are not a Magical Girl yet so I don't want you trying anything crazy. Just stay back and let me handle things. If the witch sets its sights on you I don't want you to do anything but run. However..." She held out her hand and Sayaka could tell she was asking to see the bat she had been balancing over her shoulder. Sayaka held it out to her. Mami put her hand on it and the same bright light from earlier formed around it. When the light cleared the bat had changed. It was now shinier and imbued with magnificent crystals. Sayaka's eyes sparkled as she stared in wonderment.

"Aside from the witch we may also confront some 'familiars' in there," Mami explained. "They are smaller weaker creatures that are spawned from the witch itself. If you are attacked by one of them, and I'm in a pinch, you can use this to defend yourself."

Sayaka nodded, "Sure thing!"

"Just remember, do NOT try to fight the witch. Leave that part to me."

 **II**

Homura hand unknowingly ended up just two steps ahead of Mami's group. As they were approaching the edge of the alley, Homura was already entering the labyrinth that waited at the end of it. This was the Mugger Witch's lair.

There have been numerous murders around this alley ever since the witch had moved in and made it its home. It kills by luring potential thieves as well as their victims to this spot and instigating muggings. Once it did so, both the thieves and the victims would soon be pulled into the labyrinth, and after that their souls were doomed to become the witch's familiars.

In most of her past lives this witch went unnoticed by the other girls, and was always an easy GriefSeed to grab if she found herself in a pinch. Every once in awhile, though, the other girls _did_ find out about it. Homura just hoped that this would not be one of those nights. She didn't think she had enough magical power left to have a confrontation with both the witch and Mami if she did happen to show up.

Inside, the labyrinth looked like a cartoon version of some bar in the wild west. Most of the patrons that sat around the bar and at the table's were just for show. Their faces had no real substance, twisting and changing in a mess of incomprehensible colors. There were a few, however, that had sneering grins on their cartoon faces. Those were the familiars that had come from the souls of the mugging victims.

At a table in the far back corner of the bar there sat six more identical familiars playing a game of cards, each of them had a red bandanna over their face in the fashion of a robber from the wild west. Those were the familiars that came from the souls of the muggers.

The actual witch hadn't shown its face yet. Homura had fought it before, though, and knew what it looked like; The Mugger Witch was the _sheriff_ of this mock town.

She glanced around the bar as she planned her attack. So far, none of the creatures that inhabited it had taken notice of her, and they likely would not until she started disturbing their scene.

The familiars would be easy enough to take care of. If she had more magic at her disposal she could just stop time and take them out one by one while they were completely helpless. However, since her magic supply was so low she decided it would be best to try and take them out the old fashion way. This way she would have plenty of magic to defeat the witch with when it inevitably decided to show face. Or, lack of a face, rather.

She reached behind her gear shield and removed a handgun. The robber familiars all looked up at her and started to rise from their seats. She quickly took aim and started firing away at them. By the time they reached for their own guns she managed to take out two of them with two quick clean shots to the head. Then, for cover, she dove under a table that did not have any of the patron familiars sitting at it.

Shots rang out from that back corner of the room. The patron familiars started rising from their seats and moving toward her with slow heavy steps. Luckily, the robber familiars were the only ones with guns, so once they were gone cleaning up the rest would be a cinch. She peaked over the table and fired her gun three more times. The first couple shots were just for cover, then the third took a robber familiar clean in the head.

The patrons were getting closer with their slow zombie like movements. She rolled out from under the table, stopped on her knees in mid-roll and fired four more quick shots: taking out another two robbers. She then rolled again under a new table for cover.

"Just one more."

She hadn't noticed one of the patrons who was slower to rise than the rest, and she had rolled right under its feet! It suddenly lunged down upon her. She screamed as she fell backwards to avoid it, then rose her gun and blew its head off before it had a chance to do her any harm.

The problem is she was now out in the open. She looked towards the last remaining robber who now had a clean shot on her. She moved the barrel of her gun in its direction, but in the back of her mind she knew that she had messed up big time. Her arm felt as though it were moving in slow motion, knowing she would not be able to fire her shot first. Her jaw tightening in anticipation of the bullet that would soon be piercing her body. Hopefully, it would not go crashing through her head. She has had her skull pierced before, and it was probably one of the most unpleasant feelings in the world.

However, instead of the robber firing its gun like she thought it would, it just exploded into a mess of dark colors. This was preceded by the sound of a different gun going off right behind her!

She quickly spun around, her butt still on the floor, and set the sights of her own gun on Mami Tomoe.

"You!"

"Me?" Mami asked inquisitively. "I don't think we've met before." Mami held a decorative musket in her left hand and had the dark holes of its barrel just inches from Homura's face. She held her right hand to the side and used her magic, summoning another musket into her grasp which she then used to blow away a patron familiar who was getting just a little too close to her. "Perhaps now is not the best time for talking?" she asked.

"Agreed," Homura said as she quickly got back to her feet and joined Mami in shooting at the unarmed familiars who were creeping towards them with clawing outstretched arms.

Sayaka swung her bat at one of them that Mami had missed and took its head clean off. "HOMURA!" She shouted as she took up arms against another, "What did you do to Madoka!"

"She's fine," Homura spoke coldly, her attention focused down the sight of her pistol, picking off familiars one at a time. "You do not need to worry about her."

"The hell I don't!" Sayaka swung her bat wildly at one patron and then another.

Then, a low whistle filled the air and all the patron familiars stopped their progress and began to turn around. Some of them fell to their hands and knees and started to crawl away.

"What's going on?" Sayaka asked, looking around in confusion at the retreating familiars.

"The main event," said Mami. "Stand back."

The three of them retreated to the back of the bar and focused their eyes on the swinging double door in front.

"Sayaka, it is best that you hide behind the counter for this one," said Mami. "The witch will be nothing like those familiars. This is the real deal."

"R-right," she said, and quickly did as she was asked.

Homura and Mami readied their weapons and waited. The whistling got louder and louder, and soon they could see the shadow of a tall dark figure approaching the doors.

"Can I trust you not to shoot me in the back while I'm distracted by this thing?" Mami asked.

Homura clicked her teeth and flung her hair back. "What kind of a person do you think I am?" It was ironic to hear that kind of an accusation from Mami, for in one of Homura's past lives Mami had done just that. After finding out the truth about Magical Girls and how they were doomed to one day turn into witches themselves, Mami lost her mind and tried to kill everyone in their group. She had succeeded in killing Kyoko, and would have finished off the rest of them if Madoka hadn't stopped her by killing her first. Ever since then Homura held a secret hatred for Mami, for only she knew of the kind of person Mami was capable of being.

The witch burst through the door and instantly opened fire on them...

 **III**

Madoka had spent much of that first hour struggling and trying to free herself. She reached and pulled and thrashed her body all around, trying to loosen something up, but with no success. She twisted and turned her hands around, trying to get her fingers at the knots by her wrists, but no matter how hard she tried she could do no more than simply brush the rope with the tip of her little finger. Finally, with a frustrated " _mmmmph_ ", she gave up.

If she could just get one hand free she would be out of this, but it was clear there was no way for her to do even that much.

The lights were out, but at least a window was open and some moonlight was finding its way in, so it wasn't completely dark. Madoka was not the kind of person who is normally afraid of the dark, but in this situation she thought she would be if it were completely pitch black.

Madoka stared at the ceiling. She thought how worried her family must be right now. She thought about Sayaka, and wondered if she knew she had gone missing already? Chances are she did. Calling Sayaka is probably the first thing her mom did. If Sayaka did not know, then when Madoka didn't show up for school tomorrow Sayaka would probably think she was sick and rush over to her house first thing after school, bringing medicine and things to help with colds. She was that kind of friend.

Lying in that room all alone, she thought she missed Sayaka the most. They had been best friends since childhood. Madoka didn't think they had ever gone more than two days without seeing each other.

She looked at the binding on one of her wrists and turned it around passively. Even if she _did_ somehow get out of this, wouldn't Homura find her and just bring her right back? How was she to escape someone who could stop time and just do whatever she pleased?

She wondered what Homura was doing right now. Was she fighting one of those witch things she talked about? Madoka honestly did not even fully understand what those were, but she did get that they were dangerous. What if something bad happened to Homura while she was out there? What would happen to her then? She was stuck tied to this bed and no one else knew she was here! If Homura never came back, then...

She shook the thought away, it was too scary to think about. She looked back to the window, and couldn't see much, but she could at least see a few stars nestled against the dark night sky. She closed her eyes, trying to think of happy things and let sleep take her.

* * *

 **Visit my twitter at /Atomyst_Fics for weekly updates on writing progress and releases every thursday.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-Atomyst**


	7. The Mugger Witch

**Chapter 7**

 **I**

At first all Sayaka could hear were the sounds of a machine gun going off. She was behind the counter with her back to a wall and her knees curled up to her chest. When the spray of bullets had ceased she quietly peeked over the counter top.

The witch stood in the doorway, and it was much bigger than she imagined it would be. Its face was dark and twisted like its familiars, the colors of its body distorting and seemed to constantly change from one dark hue to another. The only consistent thing about the creature was the golden sheriff star on its chest and its evil grin made of bright white teeth. In its big arms it held a massive gun which was itself at least as big as either of the girls fighting it.

Homura and Mami had both hit the floor when the witch had started firing, now that it was distracted with reloading they both took position and started firing shots at it. With each bullet that hit its target the witch seemed to flinch back a bit, but the shots did not seem to have much of an actual effect.

Sayaka's eyes opened wide in terror at all of this. They might as well have been throwing pebbles at it! The bullets practically seemed to just bounce off!

The sheriff finished feeding a fresh bullet clip into the gun, and it started to make a whirring sound as the barrels began to spin. Mami and Homura both fled in opposite directions just seconds before the shooting started. As they ran they both continued blasting shots in the monster's direction.

The sheriff followed Homura with its spray of bullets. The massive gun slowly swept the bar as bullets went zipping just behind Homura's head as she ran.

Suddenly, Homura disappeared. The creature stopped in a moment of confusion, then set its sights on Mami instead.

Mami continued firing her weapons as she fled the assault. She would make one of her muskets appear, grab it out of the air and dispense its shot before tossing it to the side and making a brand new one appear. But where had Homura gone?

Then Sayaka spotted Homura standing on the creature's back. Simultaneous with her reappearance every single table and chair in the bar flew through the air and crashed into the witch as if they were thrown there by some great force. The witch lost sight of Mami and its gun rose towards the sky as it flinched back from the blows. Homura was now holding two pistols and she started firing each of them repeatedly right into the top of its head!

The creature screamed with a bone chilling roar, then threw Homura as a horse dismounts an unwanted rider. She tumbled through the air, outside the bar, and then landed hard on the sandy ground outside. The witch dropped its massive gun to the ground and turned away from Mami, now with sights only for Homura. With one of its massive hands it held its own head as if trying to sooth a really bad headache. The other hand reached inside its own chest then pulled out again, now holding a large pistol proportionate to the size of its abnormally large hand.

Homura tried to roll away, but small shadowy hands rose out of the desert floor and grabbed onto her. They grabbed her by her arms and legs and locked her into place, holding her tight against the sandy ground. She looked from one arm to another and tried to shake them away, but it was no good.

Another three hands rose out of the sand and took hold of her shield. They used some kind of curse to lock it up and when she tried to spin the gears and stop time the shield would simply not respond. The witch had figured out her power, it seemed.

"Damn it!" she yelled, thrusting back and forth as she tried to break free. The sheriff's white teeth made a menacing grin as it pointed its gun at her. One black finger moved onto the trigger. Homura was helpless to defend herself, and could do nothing but lay there and await the execution.

Suddenly, yellow ribbons shot up from the ground all around the witch and started attacking it. They wrapped themselves around its arms and pulled down so that when it fired its gun the bullet hit nothing but sandy earth, creating a cloud of dust inches away from Homura's leg.

Mami jumped onto the witch's back and used it as a springboard to jump high into the air. Sayaka retreated from her hiding place behind the bar and found a window to look out of so she would not miss a thing.

Sayaka watched with wide eyes and a slack jaw as more ribbons grabbed onto the witch and forced it into a kneeling position while Mami continued to rise high into the air above it. _She looks so cool!_ Sayaka thought.

Mami smiled as she pulled her ascot out from under her collar and threw it into the air. "Now for the real execution!" Her magic light filled the air in a display of beautiful rainbow color that emulated her SoulGem. The colors grew brighter and less transparent until they actually took on a physical form.

Next thing Sayaka knew, there was a giant gun floating in the air alongside Mami. It was even bigger than the witch's massive gatling gun - it was even bigger than the witch itself! Mami grabbed onto the end of her weapon and took aim.

"TIRO! FINALE!"

Her gun (which was more like a canon) produced a great explosion. All different colors of the rainbow burst forth from the massive barrel. The colors flew like ribbons and twisted and wrapped around one another until they came together in the shape of a bullet and blasted right through the witch's chest.

The witch let out a hideous scream as dark colors which exactly inversed the rainbow emitted from its body. It made more terrifying screaming sounds as it starting melting into a puddle of black goo, and eventually disappeared.

Mami landed on the roof of a nearby building with folded arms and a smug grin on her face.

"Woh!" Sayaka said as she came out of the bar. "That was amazing!" Then she saw Homura and tensed up. Homura picked herself up from the ground, gave Sayaka a cold dead eyed stare, then flipped her hair back and walked over to the GriefSeed that sat in the witch's puddle of goo.

"I'm taking this!" she called over to Mami as she reached for it, but when her hand was mere inches from obtaining her prize a ribbon appeared and grabbed onto it, then flung it back in Mami's direction. Mami jumped from the building and caught the seed in midair. She did a front flip and landed back on the ground ten yards away from Homura with a fresh musket appearing in her grasp, it's barrel aimed directly at the dark Magical Girl.

"Give that to me!" Homura demanded.

"No way!" said Sayaka, "Mami's the one who killed that thing, so it's hers!"

Mami smiled and chuckled. "You know, I really have no problem letting you have this. After all, if you hadn't gotten its attention I never would have had time to pull that off. However, there is this issue concerning a certain Madoka Kaname."

Sayaka nodded as she joined Mami by her side. Homura stared them both down coldly.

"Madoka is of no concern to you," Homura said to Mami, then she looked at Sayaka. "And you too. It is best you just forget about her."

"You! How can you say something like that?" Sayaka raised a fist. "What the hell is your problem anyway? What did you do with her!?"

Homura did not answer.

"How about this," said Mami, "give us Madoka and you can have the GriefSeed. More than that, I will be willing to just forget about all of this." Homura still would not respond and just stared her down in her typical cool intense way. "You understand what I am saying, don't you? I'm trying to give you a pass. Do you really want to be enemies? We could be powerful allies if we just worked together, you know?"

Homura flipped her hair back. "I could never be allies with someone like you."

Mami grinned sheepishly. "Very well, then."

Next thing Homura knew, rainbow light appeared all around her and ribbons formed. The ribbons shot at Homura with the purpose of binding her. Homura quickly used her own magic and set the gears spinning on her shield.

 **II**

"Damn it!" Homura grunted, looking at the ribbons that surrounded her on all sides then looking at Mami's silly grinning face. "That sure was a close one." She carefully stepped around the ribbons. She knew that if they had actually grabbed onto her then Mami would be pulled into her time flow as well. She did not know whether or not simply touching them would be enough to have that effect, but she did not plan on finding out.

Homura took a good look at the frozen duo. She could take them both out right now if she wanted, and never have any problems from them ever again. One bullet into Sayaka's head, and one into Mami's flower hairpin that was actually her SoulGem. If she would just do that then there would be no one left to " _rescue"_ Madoka. After that, keeping her safe would be much easier. She could not bring herself to do it, however. She never could, no matter how much trouble any of the other magical girls caused her she could never bring herself to harm them.

The truth is, at one time they were all her friends. Sayaka, Kyoko, and even Mami. She would save them all if she could, and she had tried countless times to do just that, but always failed. This time she was going to save at least one, though. She would save Madoka.

She snatched the GriefSeed out of Mami's hand and exited the labyrinth.

 **III**

"Wah, where did she go?" Sayaka looked all around for Homura who seemed to have just vanished. Mami looked at her empty hand which should have had a GriefSeed sitting on it, but it, like Homura, had disappeared and she made a fist.

"I am sorry," she said, and looked back to Sayaka. "It was my fault she got away. I should have just tied her up the second I had an opportunity to... but, I thought maybe if just talked to her..."

"It's not your fault," Sayaka reassured her. "That chicks just a total psycho!"

Mami nodded. "Now that I know she can not be reasoned with, I'll get her next time for sure."

They exited the labyrinth, and walked down the dark alley that once belonged to the Mugger Witch. When they reached the end there was one last bright flash of light as the portal disappeared. Sayaka looked back, wondering what that was and Mami explained: "Now that the witch is gone, the labyrinth it created has nothing to sustain itself." Outside the alley she took a look up and down the city street. "This side of town has just gotten a little safer."

"So, killing witches helps people, right?" Sayaka asked.

"That's right," said Mami with a wink. "I knew to come here and look for a witch because there had been a lot of murders here lately. Things like suicides, murders without any clear motive, unexplainable deaths; Witches are always linked to those kinds of things. If that witch were to continue on, who knows how many more people it would have hurt!"

"I see." Sayaka looked down the alley where the portal to the labyrinth once was.

"It's late," said Mami, "I live close by, you're welcome to come stay with me tonight if you don't want to walk all the way back to your house."

"Sure," said Sayaka as she gave her a smile. "That sounds great!"

 **IV**

Homura held the GriefSeed against her own SoulGem and watched as the black coloring disappeared and the gem returned to its bright rainbow colors. She breathed a sigh of relief when it was all done. It really had been close, she had gone to the limit and pushed far past it tonight. If Mami had succeeded in grabbing her with those ribbons and preventing her from using the GriefSeed then there is no doubt she would already be transforming into a witch right now.

After fully using the GriefSeed, her SoulGem still was not back to a hundred percent purification. It was in good shape now, but she observed that there was still a slight black fog floating around beneath the colors. It would be fine for a while though, and she could probably go for another three full days before needing to hunt down another one.

 _Three days:_ By that time Kyoko should be arriving here in Mitakihara Town. In many of her past lives she had allied herself with Kyoko, who had repeatedly proven herself to be useful. She may have had a quick tongue and was easy to anger, but she was also easy to manipulate. Although, Homura did not think there would be any use for her this time around. Homura had no plans of going against Walpurgisnacht or dealing with any other high class witches, which is usually what her alliance with Kyoko had been all about. This time she figured she would just ignore Kyoko and try not to cross paths with her.

Then she heard Kyubey's voice say, _"Well done."_

She noticed him standing atop a fence that she was passing under. When she looked up at him he jumped down and sat on his haunches down by her feet. She watched him with a raised eyebrow.

"You want this, right?" Homura asked, holding up the spent GriefSeed. His little red eyes just stared at it. With a flick of her wrist she tossed the GriefSeed toward him. A hole opened on his back and he jumped up to catch it. Once that was done the hole closed and he returned to a sitting position.

If a GriefSeed absorbs too much energy from a SoulGem it is at risk of hatching a new witch all over again. That is why it had to be fed to Kyubey, who in turn harvested the energy for his people. Homura did not know much about Kyubey and what kind of creature he was, all she knew is that he was an alien who collects the emotional energy of humans. The whole Magical Girl system was developed solely for filling that purpose.

"So, how long are you planning to keep this up? Homura Akemi," Kyubey asked. Homura gave him no response. "Your magic is powerful, but I suspect it's only good as long as your opponents don't know how it works. The witch you just fought seemed to have figured it out, and there is no doubt Mami will as well."

"Actually, it would not surprise me if she _already_ figured it out," Homura responded. "But, it won't do her any good." Homura grabbed her pistol from under her shield and aimed it at Kyubey.

"Are you really doing this again?" he asked. "You know it is pointless."

"Not necessarily. I can't have you following me. Besides, this is one of the few things that still gives me some joy in this life."

"You can not hide Madoka Kaname forever, you know."

"We'll see," she said, and pulled the trigger.


	8. What did you wish for?

**Chapter 8**

 **I**

Homura crept into the hotel room with an arm full of clothes and a plastic bag full of food.

After taking care of Kyubey she had made a detour over to Madoka's house. She crept in while time was stopped and grabbed some of Madoka's clothes out of her room. She looked around for anything else Madoka might like. She had considered the stuffed animals, but decided against it. Partly because all the stuffed animals were too big to carry and also she had an ulterior motive for coming here.

She figured if she took some clothes and other necessary things she could make it seem as if Madoka had run away. On top of that, she was planning to convince Madoka to write her parents a letter to confer that story. She thought Madoka might go for it just so her parents would not worry as much. She could add things like _don't worry_ , and _I'm safe_. Homura hadn't totally worked out how she would go about asking just yet, nor had she considered all the possible ways Madoka might react to such a request. She figured it would be worth a shot, though.

After Madoka's house, she had made one last stop inside a grocery store to steal some food and other necessities.

Back at the hotel she stocked the fridge with the food, and then peeked in on Madoka. She seemed to be sleeping at first, but then her head moved up and her eyes opened slightly. When she registered that Homura was standing in the doorway her eyes opened more and some muffled noises came from behind her gag. She pulled towards Homura a bit, shaking the ropes which bound her hands to the bedposts.

Homura opened the door all the way and walked in, the light from the other room was bright enough that she did not need to turn the lights on in this room.

"I brought some clothes for you," she said. "There's also some decent food in the fridge now." She set the clothes down on top of a dresser, then sat on the bed next to her captive. She looked down at Madoka, and Madoka looked at her with those deep expressive eyes. Homura could not help but think how cute she was when she was like this, and her hand started to move involuntarily. Madoka's eyes followed the hand, and she sighed when it reach the top of her head and started stroking her hair. Madoka turned her head over to look at the noose around her left wrist, she shook it a bit and then looked back to Homura. She was asking to be untied.

"Sorry," said Homura, still stroking her hair. "I still need to get some sleep myself." Madoka shook her head away from Homura's hand, and looked at her with more of a pout in her eyes. "It's only three-AM, just go back to sleep. I'll untie you in the morning and we can have a nice breakfast." Then she stood up and looked down on Madoka for a few moments longer. Madoka pulled towards her and complained into the gag. Homura just smiled at her and turned away, unable to help herself because of how cute she looked.

As Homura left the room, Madoka thrust her body one more time and screamed into the gag to vent some of her frustration. Homura had left the door open a crack, and through it Madoka could see the couch in the living area where Homura laid down. Madoka watched Homura fall asleep, then sighed and looked at the ceiling.

 _She could have at least taken off the gag,_ Madoka thought.

 **II**

Mami's had a nice little apartment on a high floor, and outside her window there was a great view of the city skyline. Sayaka stood at the window looking around while Mami busied herself with making some tea. It was late, but neither of them felt like they could just go to sleep right away, especially not Sayaka.

She found herself caught up in the romanticism of what it must be like being a Magical Girl. Sure, the witch was scary, but that was mainly because as a normal human she was helpless to do anything. Besides, once Mami got to doing her thing, Sayaka wasn't scared anymore.

Sayaka stared out the window and thought about it. Magical Girls are needed to fight witches and keep people safe. Not everyone could be a Magical Girl, and for some reason Kyubey thought that she was capable. Considering that, how could she possibly turn down the offer? If she was capable of doing some good in the world she thought it had to be her responsibility to help.

On top of that, there was also the wish. She could have one wish, anything she wanted. Although, she did not know what that could be. She didn't really want anything for herself, not having any craving for money or material possessions. Her life might not have been perfect, but there wasn't anything she felt she was lacking.

What if she wished to end world hunger? Could Kyubey even do something like that? She thought about it for a while then decided she would ask Mami what _her_ wish was, maybe that would help her decide. As she was thinking that, she realized that from this window she could see the hospital Kyosuke was staying at, and another idea for a wish crossed her mind.

She looked away from the window and saw that Kyubey was sitting on a lounge chair, his legs were folded up under his tiny body and his little red eyes stared at her. He had disappeared from their group some time during the fight with the Mugger Witch and only now showed himself again.

"Ah Kyubey, where have you been?" Sayaka asked.

"I tried to follow Homura, to see if she would lead me back to Madoka, but she must have caught on to me because next thing I knew she disappeared without a trace and I lost her. Sorry about that."

"No, thank you for trying," Sayaka said, "I'm sure we will get another chance."

"You are planning to become a Magical Girl too, Correct?" Kyubey asked. "Why not just _wish_ for Madoka back? If you like, I could make it so Homura can never come near her or any of you ever again!"

"Kyubey is essentially a good guy," Mami said as she stepped out of the kitchen, holding a tray of tea and pastries. "He can be a bit pushy sometimes, though."

"That's mean," Kyubey's ears twitched. "How could you say something like that?"

Mami laughed, "It's true isn't it? Not that I blame you, contracting Magical Girls is your job after all." Mami was no longer in her Magical Girl costume, she was now wearing some loose fitting nightclothes of yellow and white. She set the tray down on the table and took a seat. Sayaka came over to join her, and Kyubey remained on the lounge chair, his head turning to watch the two of them.

"Mami, what did you wish for?" Sayaka asked as she sat down. Mami's smiling face suddenly grew rather serious, and Sayaka realized she had just breached on a sensitive topic. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me!" she said quickly, waving her hands and hoping she hadn't offended her new friend.

Mami poured the tea. She seemed to be thinking very deeply on something. She offered Sayaka her cup and then spoke. "It's alright," she said. "It's just that when I made my wish I didn't have the luxury of thinking about it. I kind of had to do it on a whim." Sayaka sipped her tea and listened quietly, giving Mami time to gather her thoughts.

"My family was involved in a bad car accident. Everyone other than myself died instantly, but although I was alive I was in really bad shape. All I can remember is one second it was a totally normal day, then the next second the whole world spun around me, and everything changed. I was pinned behind a seat inside the car. I was calling out to my mother and father, but they wouldn't respond. Somehow... I think I already knew they were gone...

"Smoke was pouring into the car, and it felt like I was choking on it. I knew it was over for me. That I was done for... but then, Kyubey showed up." She sipped her tea. "Honestly, I don't even remember exactly what it is I wished for, but next thing I knew I was outside of the car completely unscathed, just watching it burn. Of course, when I told the authorities that a magic cat granted me a wish to save my life they didn't believe me. I think the official story is that I had gotten thrown from the car somehow and by some miracle didn't suffer any injuries.

"I found my SoulGem in my pocket that night and didn't even know what it was. I thought it was pretty, so I just hung onto it. In spite of all the sadness that had suddenly come into my life, somehow looking at that pretty little jewel could make me smile.

"Anyway, there is a lot a kid goes through when she is suddenly orphaned. I wasn't alone for any real amount of time that week, so I guess that's why Kyubey wasn't able to contact me again and explain exactly what it was I had signed up for. I was a Magical Girl for a full week without even knowing it. Isn't that something?

"Then, strange things started to happen. I realized I was stronger than any little girl my age had the right to be. I could run faster, jump higher, even hold my breath underwater longer than I ever could have before. One day, I was sitting on the side of my bed playing with my SoulGem, and suddenly this bright light appeared. Next thing I knew, there was a cup of tea sitting on my nightstand. Funny right? My first ever spell I cast was for a cup of tea. I think that happened because I was thinking of my mother at the time. She use to make tea every day."

Mami sighed, staring into her cup for a moment. She took a sip, and then continued.

"Somehow, I knew the SoulGem was responsible for all of this. I also knew that I had to keep it secret. Luckily, it wasn't long before Kyubey finally showed up and explained everything to me. He told me all about witches and why he made me a Magical Girl.

"I was terrified on my first witch hunt, but somehow I managed to get through that ordeal alive. Then it just got easier and easier from there on.

"I like to think that even though my family died, it wasn't in vain. Now that I'm an experienced Magical Girl who fights witches I have a chance to save people every day." She took another sip of her tea and a smile returned to her face, "That's what keeps me going, I just want to help people. Guess I'm kind of like a superhero, huh?" She laughed.

Sayaka smiled, "Yeah, you're really amazing Mami." She thought she had already decided to go ahead and do the Magical Girl thing, but if she had been on the fence about it at all Mami's story had just inspired her. "Mami, I want to be a Magical Girl too!"

"I'm glad, but why don't you take a few days and really think about it? You should also take some time to think about what wish you want. I didn't have that chance, but since you do you should really take advantage of it."

"That's true... but, aren't you going to be fighting witches in the meantime? I mean, I would feel bad about you doing that alone when I could be helping you."

"Don't worry about me," said Mami. "I've been going at this Magical Girl thing solo for a long time. I would much rather you take your time and wish for something you really want."

 **III**

Meanwhile, a few miles away in a town called _Kazamino_ , another Magical Girl was finishing up some business. "Too easy," she said as she lazily thrust her spear through a defeated witch's chest and watched as its body wriggled and dissipated. She bent over to pick up the GriefSeed that was left behind, and then held it up to the light. "How lame, there's barely any juice in this thing. Guess it can't be helped, that one was a weakling after all... Oh well."

She held her hands behind her head and whistled as she walked away from the disappearing labyrinth. Her clothing became covered in rainbow light as her Magical Girl outfit disappeared. For a moment the light outlined her nude body, then began morphing into her normal street clothes: A pair a short blue jeans and a dark-green hooded sweatshirt.

She took a box of pocky out of her back pocket and stuck one in her mouth, then with her hands in her back pockets she continued strolling down the street.

Kyoko Sakura was a veteran Magical Girl. She was technically homeless, but through thievery and magic she still managed to live a fairly comfortable life. When she lost her family social services tried to put her in a foster home, but she was rather _uncooperative_ about that idea, to put it lightly. She ran away from every home they have ever tried to put her in, preferring to make her own way out on the street.

Although, being a teenage girl wandering the streets alone at night tended to grab attention from the authorities, so she use to get picked up from time to time and brought back to one home or another. Other times she would be picked up for being caught stealing. After being annoyed by those kinds of situations one too many times she finally started fighting back.

It was a cinch, being a Magical Girl meant no ordinary human could ever boss her around. One day, after leaving a cop with a broken arm and a giant hole slashed in the roof of his squad car, she walked away wondering why she hadn't just handled it like that in the first place.

There was some unspoken code about Magical Girls keeping their powers secret, but she didn't care much for it. Not that she made a habit of just displaying her powers out in the open for no reason. It's more that if she just happened to find herself in a situation where keeping her powers secret was too inconvenient, she just wouldn't worry about it and go ahead and use her powers anyway. She figured it didn't even matter if no one really understood what they were seeing. In time, it would just turn into one of those urban myth type things that no one pays much attention to anyway, so she didn't see the harm in it.

She was growing bored with this town, though. She felt like all the witches that were actually worth killing had already been taken care of. All that were left were the weak trash like the one she just killed.

There was another town nearby that she knew of, though. Mitakihara Town. As far as she knew there was only one Magical Girl working that area. Her name was Mami Tomoe. Mami actually had once been a good friend of hers, a long time ago.

Mami was sort of like a teacher to her back then. She helped her get her feet off the ground as a Magical Girl and they went on many witch hunts together. But those days were long over by now. Their friendship had a falling out and now they were more like enemies. The problem is, they didn't see eye to eye on how exactly Magical Girls are supposed to act.

Mami may talk big on how serious being a Magical Girl is and what a big responsibility it is and what not, but the truth is it was a game to her. She was way too wrapped up in the idea of being a hero of justice. Kyoko hated that. Kyoko also knew her way of thinking was going to get her killed someday, so she decided to just keep her distance.

A true Magical Girl understood that she had to fight only for herself. That's what Kyoko believed at least. Besides, she had tried to help someone once before and it ended up being the biggest mistake of her life. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes at night she could still smell the smoke of her father's burning church.

She didn't like thinking about those days, but she wouldn't let herself forget it either. Trying to help people just screws thing, and will eventually make things worse in the long run. She had seen it enough to know that was the truth.

She would never let herself forget, so she would always remember who she was, and who she had to be...


	9. I'm not lonely

**Chapter 9**

 **I**

For a brief moment after opening her eyes Madoka's consciousness lagged behind her and she thought that she was in her own room on her own bed. That would have been so nice, to wake up and find out it was all just a dream... but it wasn't. She looked at each of her hands and feet to verify that she was still tied down. Indeed, she was. She pulled at the rope on her left hand lazily, not actually expecting anything. She already spent a good portion of last night trying to free herself, but with no success.

She looked around the room for a clock, having not seen one last night while the room was dark. Perhaps she could find one now that there was some sunlight coming in. There wasn't, though. All she spotted was a pile of clothes atop the dresser on the other side of the room. She looked through the cracked door and saw Homura still fast asleep on the couch.

How long had she been tied to this bed? It was dark out when it happened, but not incredibly late. She thought maybe around eight. What time was it now, though? She didn't have a clock to go by, but the sun seemed to be at full blast so it must have been at least eight in the morning.

 _Twelve hours,_ she had spent at least twelve hours laying on this bed spread eagle, staring at the ceiling, and sucking on a piece of cloth that was soaked in her own saliva.

The thought of it alone made her want to scream, but even screaming seemed to frustrate her more because without any other motion available to her, and without much actual sound being made through the gag, it really was not much of a release. Did Homura plan to make her go through this again every night? She couldn't stand the thought. She needed to find a way out of this.

For now though, all she could do is lay there and wait for Homura to get up and untie her. As anxious as she was to get up and have mobility again, another part of her dreaded Homura waking up. It's not that Madoka hated her. Despite all that has happened, Madoka partly felt bad for her. There seemed to be something very sad about her, and as far fetched as her story was (witches, Magical Girls, and time travel), Madoka believed it. Still, she was unpredictable and she could be very scary sometimes, so although Madoka didn't like feeling this way she was definitely afraid of her.

After waiting for a while, though, Madoka just couldn't take it anymore. She decided she would just go for it and try to wake Homura up so she could finally get off of this bed.

She hollered as best as she could through the gag, trying to get her attention. Madoka was never a very loud person in the first place, so her muffled yells through the gag did not make much noise.

She then tried thrashing around on the bed to see if she could make any noise that way, but the bed was too soft and sturdy so it barely made a creak. After forcing her muffled voice through the gag for a little while longer she gave up, coming to the realization she was just going to have to wait. There was no way she could make enough noise to rouse the sleeping Homura.

She laid her head back and stared at the ceiling. She had turned down the dinner Homura made for her last night, and therefore hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day. She was really hungry now, and dying to eat breakfast. As if concurring with her thoughts, her stomach gave a long growl. Homura's head then moved and looked over to Madoka with tired eyes.

 _Seriously?_ Madoka thought.

 **II**

Homura yawned and stretched as she sat up on the couch. She smiled a bit when she looked over at Madoka, but Madoka didn't seem very happy to see her. She supposed it couldn't be helped. Last night was quite an ordeal, but Homura hoped the rest of their time together would go more smoothly.

"Good morning, Madoka," she said as she entered the room. Madoka just glared back at her. "Did you sleep well?"

Madoka yelled through the gag, the frustration was plain on her face.

"Sorry, wait a second. I'll take that off."

Homura climbed on top of her and pulled her head up into her arms as she started working at undoing the knot around the back of her head. Madoka's face was right in front of Homura's chest as she did this. Madoka let her eyes sink away, embarrassed to be staring right into them like that.

Homura finished with the knot and tossed the rope away, then pulled the pillowcase from Madoka's mouth. It was soaked with saliva. Homura grimaced and held it away from herself with two fingers. A bit of drool rolled down from the corner of Madoka's mouth. Madoka just sighed and looked away.

"Ugh, be right back. I'll take care of this." Homura brought the soiled clothes to the kitchen and threw it away. Then she wetted a paper towel for Madoka's face and went back into the room. "Hold still," she said as she dabbed the corners of Madoka's mouth and cleaned her up. "There, better now?" Madoka didn't respond to that, rightfully irritated by her situation.

"You know, you could have taken that out last night," Madoka said, dryly, her eyes fixed on the wall. "It's not like I could call for help with you sleeping right there."

"Oh, I suppose you're right. Sorry about that." Madoka wondered if it really was an oversight.

"Can you untie me now?" Madoka asked anxiously. When Homura didn't respond right away Madoka looked at her and said, "Please?"

"Just a little longer, ok? I need to take a shower first." Homura got up and walked over to the pile of clothes she had gathered last night and shuffled through them.

Madoka glanced between her bindings, subconsciously pulling at them with desperate irritation creeping onto her face. "B-but!"

"It's just a little longer, I promise." Homura picked out a purple t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts and showed them to Madoka. "Mind if I borrow these?"

Madoka's head shot up. "A-are those mine? D-did you break into my house?"

Homura shrunk back a little and scratched the side of her face nonchalantly. She hadn't considered that Madoka might be upset about that.

"Well, I didn't exactly break in. I just snuck in while time was stopped is all, and grabbed a few things. All your things, for you. I did not _steal_ anything if that's what you think."

Madoka sighed and dropped her head back. Considering her current situation she figured she shouldn't be surprised by anything this girl did anymore. Still, she couldn't believe her nerve. "You can borrow it, it's fine."

"Well anyway, I'll be quick. Okay? Just a few more minutes and I'll untie you."

 **III**

Sayaka wanted to just bag school for the day, but Mami convinced her not to. Mami claimed that despite her Magical Girl career she had never missed a single class.

"If you're planning to become a Magical Girl you have to understand that it doesn't mean you can just write off all your other personal responsibilities. It's kind of like having a part time job. That's something else you should take into consideration before making the contract."

"I guess you're right," Sayaka said with a yawn. The problem was she had only gotten about four hours of sleep last night, and she was exhausted. Although, she started to feel a little more energetic after drinking some tea and eating a breakfast muffin Mami gave to her.

Sayaka had been wearing street clothes from last night, and all her own school clothes were still at her house. Luckily, even though Mami was a senior she still had some of her old second year school uniforms and offered one to Sayaka. Sayaka took one look at Mami's chest, then glanced down at her own, but didn't bother pointing out the obvious reason why that plan might not work.

Sayaka decided to humor the idea, and it turned out the uniform fit better than she would have expected. It _was_ two years old, after all. The thought made her look down at her own average sized bust again, and it filled her head with hopes and dreams. She glanced back to Mami's rack and thought: _one day_.

They finished their preparations and walked out the door together.

"Hey Mami, mind if we make a slight detour?" Sayaka asked as they left the apartment complex Mami lived in. "I always meet my friend Hitomi before school, and I'm worried she'll end up being late waiting for me if I don't show up... usually we meet Madoka there too... but..."

"Sure, it's no problem; and try not to worry too much about Madoka. I'm sure she will be fine. That GriefSeed Homura stole from us won't last forever, eventually she will have to come out of hiding and we can get her." Mami smiled, "We'll have Madoka back before the end of the week, I promise."

Sayaka returned the smile and nodded, feeling reassured.

It was a short walk to where they met up with Hitomi at the usual meeting place.

"Hello Sayaka, how how are you doing?" she asked as they approached.

"Could be better," said Sayaka.

"Is Madoka still missing?"

"Yeah I'm afraid so... she..."

Sayaka was cut off when she heard Mami's voice whispering inside her head. _"Sayaka, don't tell Hitomi about anything that happened last night, okay?"_ Sayaka looked at her, confused. _"Oh, I should have mentioned we can speak telepathically, Kyubey channels our thoughts to each other."_ Sayaka then noticed Kyubey perched up on a nearby tree branch, his doll like face staring down at the group.

 _"R-really? Cool!"_ She then looked back to Hitomi. "Yeah, she's still missing."

"My, how terrible..." said Hitomi; she took note of the silent exchange that had just taken place between Sayaka and this other girl that she had never seen before.

"Oh, this is my friend, Mami Tomoe," Sayaka said.

Mami smiled and bowed. "It's nice to meet you, you must be Hitomi."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you as well, senpai," said Hitomi as she returned the bow.

After the introductions were made they all started walking to school together. For some reason Hitomi seemed to be uncharacteristically quiet this morning. Sayaka was about to ask if something was wrong, but Hitomi started talking first.

"Sayaka, you normally come from near the park but today you came from a different direction. Didn't you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, well I stayed at Mami's house last night."

Hitomi let out a small gasp, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Sayaka. "Oh… I-I see, and… that's a new uniform you're wearing. Isn't it?"

"Huh? Well, no not exactly, this is one of Mami's old uniforms. I'm just borrowing it."

"Oh... is that so..." Hitomi's hands fidgeted within one another, her face beginning to glow red. "I-I didn't realize, I-I mean... all of this."

"Um, realize what?" Sayaka asked as the trio slowed down to a stop. Mami seemed a bit perplexed herself.

"Everything you told me… a-and the fact that you can glance at each other and seem to know what the other is thinking. That kind of closeness is..."

"Eh... Hitomi?" Sayaka asked, smiling awkwardly, seeing that her friend was once again putting her rather unique set of reasoning skills to use.

"Sayaka!" Hitomi yelled as she grabbed Sayaka's hands, "I-I had no idea! I'm so happy for you! But- but she's a girl! You- you can't! It's-" she released Sayaka, turned to Mami and bowed her head. "I am so sorry, I just forgot I had to do something important I must go do! I've got to run!" She then turned and ran away screaming, leaving the two of them in her dust.

Sayaka buried her face in the palm of her hand, while Mami just stood there with a befuddled look on her face.

"Um... Is she always so... energetic?" Mami asked.

" _Yeeeeaaaah_ , she's got a lot of problems."

 **IV**

Kyoko boarded the train early that morning. Last night she made the decision that she was done with Kazamino and ready to move her operation to Mitakihara.

She found a nice window seat in the back and dropped her small duffle bag on another empty seat right next to her. She sat with one foot up so her knee folded into her chest and let her her arm rest over it. Her crimson eyes stared out the window and watched the passing landscapes.

Mitakihara was her old stomping ground, and maybe that's why she was going back, simply because it was familiar to her. Well, it was also the best place for witch hunting that she could think of without having to travel a terribly long distance. There was only one other Magical Girl who worked that turf, and she was a fool of a Magical Girl: Mami Tomoe.

It's not that Mami wasn't powerful, because she truly was. In a _fair_ fight she could beat Kyoko nine times out of ten. Although, Kyoko wasn't always the type to fight fair. In any case, Mami was not a fool for lack of power, she was a fool for how she operated as a Magical Girl.

There were two types of creatures Magical Girls had to fight: witches and familiars. Witches of course dropped GriefSeeds which Magical Girls needed to keep their powers. Familiars on the other hand dropped no rewards when killed. However, if a familiar is left alone long enough, it will eventually turn into a witch itself, and actually be worth the effort of killing. Therefore, every Magical Girl who was worth her salt knew to just leave familiars alone and focus their efforts on witches.

Not Mami, though. She would go after both witches and familiars without prejudice. She's always preaching some bullshit line about how familiars attack humans too, and they need to be destroyed in order to protect people. The problem with that is: protecting humans is not a Magical Girl's job! It's all about the _GriefSeeds_! Operating in a way that does not prioritize gathering GriefSeeds above all else is a path that could only lead to disaster for a Magical Girl. It was such a simple concept. Kyoko understood it, and she figured she would never know why Mami did not understand as well.

Kyoko reached for her bag to grab some chips she had stashed there. When she turned she noticed a small face half hidden behind a seat and peeking at her from the isle. It was a little girl. Kyoko stared back at her for a moment before the kid retreated back into hiding. Kyoko did not think anything of it, and grabbed the bag of chips and tore it open.

After stuffing her face with a few chips, the kid returned, this time in plain sight, not hiding behind the seat anymore. Kyoko stared back at her with a blank expression, and in a small sweet voice the little girl said, "Can you play with me? Please?"

She was young, probably only about six years old, and she stood there in that partially nervous, partially needlessly anxious, manor little kids often had.

Kyoko sighed. "Buzz off, I don't feel like playing." She then turned back to the window and ate another chip, figuring if she just ignored her she would go away. After a moment she felt the kid tugging on her pants, which startled her and made her face turned red. Her eyes shot back over, preparing to yell at her about keeping her hands to herself, but that innocent look in the young girl's eyes managed to hold Kyoko back.

"Please big sister? Play with me?" she asked once again, in her small voice.

 _Big sister?_ She had been called that once. She use to have a little sister who she would play with every day, but that was a long time ago. She wasn't anyone's sister now.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes and forced some aggression into her voice. "I said, _buzz off!_ " The little girl shrank back a bit. At first it seemed she would just stand there, but after a few more moments under Kyoko's sharp uninviting gaze the girl put a finger to her mouth and scurried away.

Thinking that took care of that, Kyoko sighed and once again turned back to the window to continued eating her chips.

Within less than a minute she heard the kid's tiny voice once more. "I'm sorry. I thought you looked lonely and maybe you would want to play."

Kyoko looked back at the kid. She narrowed her eyes further as she leaned forward and put a malicious tone to her voice. "Look, I ain't lonely." She bared her fangs and growled, "I'm annoyed! Get it!? You're _annoying_ me! So go play somewhere _else_ and quit _bothering_ me!"

The little girl took a full step back and put two trembling hands over her mouth. Her wide little eyes stared at Kyoko, glassing over with tears. Kyoko clicked her teeth and turned back to the window, hoping the kid would just go away for good now. She stuffed her face with an entire hand full of chips, but through the crunching she could hear the little girl starting to whimper.

She tried to ignore it, hoping the child would just scamper off. She didn't, though.

With a sigh Kyoko finally put the chips down, deciding that she needed to go to the bathroom. Once she got up and stepped into the aisle, she heard a sob, and couldn't help looking down at the trembling child.

 _Ah, damn it…_ she thought as her unrelenting gaze stared down at her. _This is just what I needed..._

Kyoko bent down and put a hand on the girl's tiny head. With as kind of a voice as Kyoko could manage she said: "Look, I just don't feel like playing right now, okay? Why don't you go do some coloring or something?" The kid stared back at her with her big sad eyes, hiding behind her own hands and trying to hold back her sobs. Kyoko frowned, then stood up and turned away.

After a few steps down the aisle she turned her head just enough to say, "Look, I'm sure you can find something else to do. I just don't think you would have much fun playin' with a mean person like me, is all." With that, she walked away and left the little girl behind. Not seeing her again for the rest of the trip.


	10. Things could be worse

**Chapter 10**

 **I**

Last night had been so strange that it had practically turned Sayaka's world upside down. Twenty four hours ago she didn't know about Magical Girls, or witches or GriefSeeds, but now in her mind these things were an accepted part of how the world worked. This made her perfectly normal school day feel powerfully surreal to her. She sat down in class just as she would every day, the only difference being that Madoka's seat was empty (as well as Homura's) but otherwise it was a one hundred percent normal day. Although, it did not _feel_ normal at all.

She didn't get much actual work done, and all the new formulas and vocabulary the teachers taught went in one ear and right out the other. Her mind was occupied with something else; she spent all day thinking about her wish. She had an idea what she wanted her wish to be, but she still needed to convince herself it truly was the best one: _Kyosuke_.

He had been a brilliant violinist. Anyone who knew him would agree he was a child prodigy in the art. Except, he had been in an accident that left most of his body paralyzed and now his hands were barely capable of raising a fork to his mouth let alone playing a violin. Wouldn't it be a good wish to give that back to him? To heal his injuries and let him bring his music back to the world?

Sayaka did not want anything for herself. Her life wasn't perfect, but she thought she was strong enough to face whatever her own hardships were. She didn't desire money or material things either. So, what wish was there that she could use on herself that would be more important than giving Kyosuke his music back?

Kyubey suggested she wish Madoka out of Homura's clutches, but she did not know about that one. She thought that once she was a Magical Girl she would be powerful enough to take care of that herself. Besides, Mami claimed that they would have Madoka back within a week, and Sayaka believed her. It was clear Mami was much more powerful than Homura. She had saved her life, and other than that Homura had actually run away from a confrontation from her. That was proof enough that a wish wasn't necessary to save Madoka. She could do that herself, with Mami's help, and there was no need to use it on something she could accomplish without a wish.

Still, she was on the fence. She could use the wish on Kyosuke, but was it _really_ smart to use her wish on someone other than herself? What if she regretted it later?

She instantly hit herself for letting that thought come to mind; thinking how selfish it was.

She decided on two things: First, she would run it by Mami and see what she thought. She had known Mami for only a short time but trusted her and respected her judgement. Second, she would go see Kyosuke after school today and see if her emotions tilt one way or the other on whether the wish should be used on him or not. Mami told her not to rush into a decision, so she respected that advice. Although, she quite honestly already felt herself favoring that one choice.

Mami said they could speak telepathically with Kyubey's assistance. It seemed Kyubey was more or less always stalking around somewhere nearby, so she gave it a shot.

 _"Mami,"_ she thought hard. " _Mami, it's Sayaka, can you hear me?"_ No response came right away, but she persisted. " _Mami? Are you there? It's Sayaka."_ After a little longer when there was no response it seemed it would not work after all.

Then she could suddenly hear Mami's voice loud and clear. _"Sayaka? Yes I hear you, what is it?"'_

 _"Good, I'm glad this worked."_ Sayaka started to smile widely, proud of herself for pulling it off. Then she shook herself back into a neutral expression, seeing as she was sitting right in the middle of class and she didn't want to be caught randomly grinning like a maniac. _"Um, can you meet me after school? I think I have decided on a wish, but I would like to talk about it with you first."_

 _"Sure thing, just wait outside the front entrance. I will find you. Sayaka, think hard on this in the meantime. I will not tell you yes or no on if a wish is right for you. All I can do is offer advice."_

 _"Ok, I understand,"_ Sayaka thought back at her. _"See you then!"_

 **II**

After taking her shower, Homura dried herself off and got dressed. She looked at her new outfit in the mirror. She twirled around a bit and noted that it was a perfect fit. She liked the way it looked on her. Purple was a strong commanding color, yet in t-shirt form it was still casual enough she thought it could represent a comfortable aura for Madoka. Homura wanted nothing more than for Madoka to adjust to this new life and be happy with it. There were many obvious pitfalls, but with the right words and actions maybe she could make everything okay.

Last night was a disaster. She hadn't thought things out well enough and ended up making things very uncomfortable. Then when her SoulGem went black she had a bit of an emotional breakdown. She hoped and prayed that Madoka did not read too much into it. She wondered if she should bring it up and apologize to clear the air, or just let it go?

Madoka was such a kind person. In spite of all she had been put through, Homura knew that she would still be trying to rationalize the situation and see the good in her. That's the kind of person Madoka was. No matter how bad a person seemed, Madoka would refuse to just accept it and try her best to understand that person's actions. Homura didn't want to hurt her, and surely she saw that. She hoped she did anyway.

She decided she would wait and see how things go, and if Madoka was in the right mood Homura would try to fit in some apologies. She didn't know exactly how to do it yet, but she figured the right words would come to her in time.

She brushed her teeth and combed her hair, then went to free Madoka from her bindings.

Her captive had been waiting there patiently. When Homura entered the room, Madoka looked at her with a smile. Was that really a smile? Well, it wasn't much of one, but it was better than the distant and pissed off look she had earlier.

"It looks good on you," said Madoka. Homura didn't get what she meant at first, then realized it was the clothes. "You know, I never really liked purple for myself, but it suites you." She then made an expression that was a true and clear smile. "You can keep that if you like."

"I... er..." Homura wasn't expecting such a sudden change in attitude. She was taken aback by it and stumbled on accepting the compliment. "Thanks, but it's yours and..."

"No really, it's okay! Keep it!" Then she laughed. _She actually laughed!_ Homura grew giddy — of course her precious Madoka would laugh. She had been annoyed about the gag earlier, but she understood her situation, and she understood Homura. Were things really going to be ok now? Or... was this some kind of ruse?

"Um..." Madoka grinned and looked over to her bound hands "Can you untie me now, please?"

"Oh, yes, of course," said Homura, snapping out of her suspicious pondering. The untying was much easier than the tying. It only took a few seconds of fiddling with each noose to undo it, and in no time Madoka was free and on her feet. She twirled around and stretched her arms, sighing happily.

"Aaah, that feels good," Madoka said, then walked over to her clothes and started searching through them. She would hold something up, look at it, and put it to the side to look at something else. After a minute of this she looked over to Homura, who had been quietly watching her, and said, "Um, do you mind?" but she said it in a playful teasing kind of way, not with any annoyance or resentment.

Homura realized she had indeed been quite awkwardly stalking her from the other side of the room, and suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Oh, yes. I mean, I'm sorry." And she left the room, shutting the door behind herself and smacking her palm onto her face. Then she leaned back against the door and let out a sigh of relief.

Madoka... she had her Madoka back. She was acting just like the Madoka from her past life who she had treasured and swore to protect. Things hadn't been easy, but they were getting better. Maybe, just maybe, she had finally found a timeline that would work.

 **III**

Kyoko scaled the top ledge of a building, placing one foot in front of the other like a tightrope walker, dressed in her complete Magical Girl attire. Her spear was over the back of her neck with both of her elbows hooked around it on either side, and her duffle bag hung off the end. Her eyes scanned the alleys and city streets below as she walked. She had gotten off the train only an hour ago, and was making her first run of the city.

She had a few GriefSeeds stashed away in her bag, so she didn't need to get to fighting witches right away. If she did just so happen to come across a witch she figured she'd go for it, but her true goal for now was simply to establish a home base.

Hotel rooms were usually good for a night or two, if she could find a way to break in without making too much noise. The biggest benefit there is having a free shower and a soft bed to sleep on (depending on the hotel). Another option is abandoned houses, which were usually found in the bad parts of the city and convenient because some witches were usually nearby.

Or, she could go to the rich neighborhood and look for a house with a _for sale_ sign in the yard. That was always a fun option, but the problem is she tended to get too comfortable in those types of housing situations, and it's too much of a let down when she has to abandon them again.

She had once broken into a five story mansion and lived there for a full week. There were two private swimming pools, one outdoor and one indoor, and at least twenty bedrooms to choose from. While she was living there she thought that if she could redo her wish she would simply have wished to have so much money she could live anywhere she wanted without ever worrying about getting kicked out. That would have been the smart thing to do. At least then, it would not have mattered if anyone listened to hers father's preaching or not, because they would have been filthy rich either way. If she had just been smart and done that… then, maybe everything would have turned out different...

She leaped from one building to another, and realized she could see the high school from her new point of view. She walked along the edge of the building, staring at the distant school building as she progressed.

Mami was probably in there right now. Kyoko thought it was stupid. What's the point of going to school when you're a Magical Girl? What possible benefit could someone get from an education when they already had a job hunting witches? It didn't make sense, but very little of what Mami did _ever_ made sense.

Then, Kyoko had an idea. She grinned and thought of all the tasty foods Mami always had stashed in her house. Without a second thought, she turned and ran the other way along the building's edge. She jumped from building to building, now carrying her bag over her shoulder and occasionally using her spear as a vaulting pole when she needed a little extra oomph to clear a landing.

She reached her goal, jumped over the building's edge and started plummeting to the streets below; her crimson hair trailing behind her like a flag. In mid air her hand reached out and grabbed the ninth floor balcony - instantly stopping her decent. She then swung back and forth for a moment to get enough momentum to thrust herself onto the level immediately below. As she landed, she morphed out of her Magical Girl attire and into her street clothes, the only thing that remained was the dufflebag she now had slung over her shoulder.

She went to the door that she knew was Mami's and tested the handle.

Locked, of course.

Kyoko took a quick look around and then unzipped a pocket on her duffle bag to pull out a switchblade. She flipped it open and stuck its blade right around where the lock should be. If she was lucky and it was not dead bolted she should be able to just pry it open. She pulled the knife to the side, and pushed out on the handle. Then with a powerful thrust, and the quick cracking of split wood, the door suddenly snapped open.

"Easy," she said to herself, as she closed the knife and returned it to its place in her bag.

 **IV**

"You can feel free to make yourself at home." Homura said, gesturing around the room. "I don't want you to feel like a prisoner here, although I can not let you leave."

Madoka sighed and spoke under her breath, "Isn't that basically what a prisoner is?"

"Sorry, what was that?" Homura asked, having honestly not heard what Madoka said.

"Oh, nothing," she sighed and looked around amiably. She supposed things could be worse. Homura could have just locked her up in a basement somewhere.

Madoka looked over to the front door. It did not appear to be locked, but even if she made a dash for it how far could she actually get? Until she came up with a way around Homura's power there wasn't much she could do, so she just had to bide her time for now.

Homura must have noticed her looking at the door because she said, "It can be unlocked from the inside, but that is the one thing that is off limits to you." Then, she quickly changed the subject, "Are you hungry?"

Hungry? She was starving! At the mere mention of food she put a hand over her growling stomach and nodded.

"Alright, what do you want? I could make pancakes, eggs, bacon, or maybe a breakfast sandwich?"

"Bacon and eggs sounds good."

Homura nodded and got to work on it. Madoka stood about awkwardly for a moment then looked over to the TV. She was about to ask Homura if it was okay to turn it on, but stopped herself.

Anyway she looked at it, Homura was her captor and she was a captive. Therefore, it was natural to feel permission was needed before she did anything. She wanted to stop those impulses, though. She didn't have any solid plans yet, but she knew she had to take control. That is the conclusion she came to while lying on the bed, waiting for Homura to finish showering. It would not be easy for her, because it wasn't in her nature to be a controlling person, but she thought it had to be done. This first small step of turning on the TV would be the first part of it.

She reached for the remote, but then stopped and thought about it before taking it. On the other hand, would it not be more beneficial for Homura to think she _wouldn't_ do anything without asking first? Maybe that would make Homura comfortable and stop paying close attention to her. It could eventually cause her to let her guard down.

She didn't know which was the better way to go. She also realized how stupid it was to put this much thought into whether or not she should pick up a TV remote!

"Homura, is it ok if I watch TV?" She finally asked, simultaneously kicking herself on the inside and also praising her own cleverness!

Homura looked up from what she was doing and said, "Of course. Like I said, make yourself at home."

Madoka sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. She flipped through, watching one channel for a few seconds then switching to another. She stopped on a certain cartoon the longest, then kept browsing. This went on for a while until she came across something that forced her to stop.

 _"As of right now there are no leads on what could have happened to the missing Mitakihara Middle School student, Madoka Kaname, shown above. If you have seen her or have any information of her whereabouts please contact the number below._

 _In other news: Do you know what's in your soup? Well, a Mitakihara Elder Care resident got a pleasant surprise when she..."_

Homura could feel Madoka's tension all the way from the kitchen. She walked away from the stove, although it already had eggs and bacon cooking on the frying pan, and went to talk to her. Madoka was just staring at the television with a blank, distant expression in her eyes. "Madoka," she Homura, to grab her attention.

"What is it?" Madoka asked, as she turned. It was clear she was hiding some sadness. Her voice was just a little too soft, and her lips just a little to tense.

"Are you okay?" Homura wanted to sound comforting, but her natural monotone ways betrayed her.

"Fine. It's natural, right?" Madoka asked, "When people go missing there are news reports... but, it just made me think. I was thinking my parents must be so worried right now."

"If you like, you can write them a letter." That suggestion seemed to cheer Madoka up at least a little bit.

"Really?"

"It's not a problem, I'll grab some paper next time I get a chance to go out…" She glanced over to the kitchen. "The eggs are burning." Then she turned away and went back to tending the oven.

* * *

 **Visit my twitter at /Atomyst_Fics for weekly updates on writing progress and releases every thursday. Also find a direct link in my profile.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-Atomyst**


	11. There will be a miracle!

**Chapter 11**

 **I**

Kyoko had forgotten a crucial point as she was breaking the door open. This was Mami's apartment two years ago, but two years is a long time, and it might not belong to her anymore. Once she was inside, however, Kyoko could tell by one quick look around that it was indeed still Mami's. There was a certain elegance to this apartment that only Mami could have pulled off. Kyoko shut the door behind herself and made a line right toward the kitchen.

There were all kinds of fancy tea cups displayed on the kitchen counters. Kyoko knew that in the cabinets there would be even more decorative plating and other such things. She opened up the fridge, at the sight of the fully stocked shelves she licked her lips with a toothy grin and said, "Jackpot."

She stacked her arms with as much food as she could carry and did a balancing act back into the living room. Once there, she unloaded everything the coffee table in front of the TV and sat cross legged on the couch.

She turned on the TV and flipped over to the news to do some research. Her time as Mami's kohai was not completely unbeneficial, as Mami had taught her a good way to find witches is to go to an area where crimes or suicides have been committed. Watching the news could usually give her a hint of where to start looking. However, right now the news was only talking about sports, so she ignored it and started digging into Mami's food.

She had eaten nothing but snacks and gas station foods over the last week. Therefore, she was greatly appreciative to be getting something with actual substance into her belly. Although she still could not help letting the cake get most of her focus, despite the meat and vegetables she had also pilfered from the fridge. Mami might have been questionable as a Magical Girl, but Kyoko would never be able to put down her baking skills!

As she gorged herself, she listened to the news with half an ear. For the most part none of the stories were very much use to her. There was one about a cat stuck in a well, another about some high school girl who had gone missing, then a particularly interesting one about... _soup?_ She took a pause from her feast and leaned forward as she turned up the volume.

She listened to the report with fascination, nodding her head and mentally taking notes. "So, eating canned soup can... I see... but what about chicken nood-? oh." She nodded approvingly as the story came to an end, then shrugged and said, "Wow, guess I should order soup more often!"

The aftermath of the great feast was a mess of crumbs, a few bones that had been picked clean, many dirty plates scattered all about the coffee table, and a fat Kyoko laying back on the couch with a hand on her stomach. Caught in the comfort of her full stomach, Kyoko's head rocked back and her eyes closed. Her mind passively told her not to fall asleep, she wanted to be gone long before Mami got back, but her body wouldn't listen and she slowly drifted off.

 **II**

She was wakened by a sudden sharp pain in her stomach. Kyoko shot out of her slumber, and curled up in a ball with both hands grabbing her tummy. She groaned, and burped, then got up and ran for the bathroom.

Once she was finished relieving herself, she took a good look in the mirror. She hadn't realized it before, but she was a mess. She supposed she hadn't had a chance to shower in a couple day, and since then she had at least one battle with a witch and she traveled to a new town. Her long red ponytail was a mess of split ends, there was a bit of dirt on her face, and some icing leftover on the corner of her mouth witch her tongue lapped at.

She figured she still had time for a quick shower before Mami got back. Besides, if she didn't go for it now it might be another couple of days before she got the chance again. Normally she tried to keep up with her hygiene, but with her lifestyle the way it was she sometimes had to put it off longer than she'd like to.

She stripped down and undid her ponytail then climbed in. She lathered herself up using Mami's many bottles of shampoos and body washes, being extra thorough with her long silky hair which regrettably did not always get the attention it deserved. When she was satisfied and felt clean, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel.

She left the bathroom to get her bag, and pulled out a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, and a change of clothes, then returned to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, and brushed all the snags out of her hair. She redid her ponytail, tying it off with the bow she liked to use, and then got dressed. She took another look at herself in the mirror, feeling much better now that she was clean.

With all that done, she figured it was now time to take her leave. She still had plenty of time before Mami got back, but she had no other business here. She stuffed her dirty clothes back into the duffle bag, doing her best to keep them separate from the clean ones. Then she put the bag over her shoulder and went for the door. She looked back and saw the mess of plates and crumbs she left behind on the coffee table. She thought about it for a moment, then decided the least she could do was wash the plates. So, she put her bag back down and went to take care of that. After they were washed and dried and put away, she was finally ready to go.

She left the apartment, placed the bag over her shoulder, and took in the mid afternoon sunlight. Then she transformed back into her Magical Girl attire and jumped over the railing of the balcony.

 **III**

The school yard was alive with the chatter of students heading back home. Sayaka waited around for Mami near the school's entrance. When Mami found her they both greeted each other and started walking together. Sayaka had a pretty important decision to make, and needed Mami's advice.

"So, would you like to go somewhere?" Mami asked, "Or maybe just back to my place?"

"No, sorry, I'm actually visiting a friend soon. Can we just walk and talk for a little while?"

Mami nodded. "You were thinking about your wish? Correct?"

"Well, yeah," said Sayaka. "The thing is, I was thinking there's really nothing I want for myself. However, I have this other friend who could really use a miracle right now."

"I see, and you are thinking about using your wish on this other person?"

"Yeah, his name's Kyosuke Kamijo. He use to be a brilliant violinist, but he had an accident and can't play anymore."

"I've heard the story," said Mami in her kind soft voice. "It is very sad, he was so talented. Before the accident he was something like a local celebrity around here, wasn't he?"

"Yeah he sure was." Sayaka frowned a bit, thinking about it, then looked back to Mami. "Well, what do you think? Think I should use my wish to cure his paralysis? That's a good wish right?" Mami didn't respond, suddenly seeming uncharacteristically quiet. "Mami?"

"I think that's a wonderful wish," Mami finally said, "but, think hard on it for a while. Think about why you are doing it, and what it _actually_ means to you."

What it _actually_ means? Why had she stressed that word?

"What do you mean, Mami?" Sayaka asked.

"How can I put this." Mami thought for a moment. "There's a difference between wanting a wish granted for someone else, and wanting to be the one who grants it. Do you understand? I'm sure you do want him to have his wish. However, if you are also expecting to get something for yourself out of the deal, you will most likely end up regretting it later."

Sayaka scratched the back of her head. "Woah, harsh."

"Sorry, but it had to be said. I once knew of another Magical Girl who made that mistake. In the end, her wish ended up destroying her. I don't want to see you make that same mistake, so you need to be one hundred percent sure you know why you are making your wish before you make it. Understand?"

Sayaka thought she understood. After leaving Mami, she thought about it all the way to the hospital.

 _If you are also expecting to get something for yourself out of the deal, you will most likely end up regretting it later._

Something for herself? What could that be? She supposed if Kyosuke somehow knew that she had cured his paralysis, he would be pretty grateful. Wouldn't he? That wasn't the reason she was doing it, though, she was sure of that. She didn't even plan on telling him about the wish, or the Magical Girl thing. He would probably just think she was crazy even if she did. No, she didn't want anything for herself, she was doing it for him simply because he needed a miracle more than she did.

At least, that is why she _thought_ she was doing it...

 **IV**

After departing from Sayaka, Mami had nowhere left to go but home. Tomorrow was saturday so she didn't have to do her homework right away, but she decided she would go ahead and get started anyway. That way she could go on a witch hunt tonight guilt free, and also have the whole weekend off.

She climbed the stairs at the front of the complex, saying hello to one of her neighbors on the way. She made it to her front door, and when her key was out of her pocket and halfway to the lock, she noticed something. There was damage to the doorframe right by the handle. She turned the handle very slightly, and found that it was unlocked — there had been a break in!

She cautiously glanced around the outside of her apartment, being sure to scan every window and corner for any accidental peeping toms before transforming. When she thought it was safe, she clasped her SoulGem and cast the spell. Her school uniform became covered in rainbow light and grew transparent as it morphed into her Magical Girl outfit. She kept her arms folded over her chest until the process completed. Then, she held out her hand and made one of her muskets appear in her grasp.

 _You picked the wrong house you creep!_ she thought to herself.

She turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open with the barrel of her gun. She crept in with slow silent footsteps, her gun leading her every movement. None of the lights were on, and as far as she could tell the apartment was exactly as she had left it. All the big ticket items (TV, laptop, radio) were right where they always were. This worried her a bit, thinking she may have walked in on the burglar while he was still in the act.

She crept around, checking every corner and behind every dresser and furnishing. There was indeed nothing out of the ordinary in the main room. Maybe her bedroom? She approached the bedroom with the same caution, entering with her gun taking the lead. Nothing in there, either. Her jewelry box was sitting right on her night stand where it always was, plainly out in the open. She lifted the lid and looked inside and everything still seemed to be in place.

She checked every other room of the house, glad to see everything was normal, but confused about just what the heck was going on. She thought that maybe the burglar never actually made it inside? Maybe he managed to pry the door open, only to be seen by one of her neighbors and scared off before he could actually do anything.

She sighed as she dispelled her gun and transformed back to her school uniform. She then went to sit down in front of her TV and think it over. Maybe she should go ask her neighbors if they had seen anything suspicious? As she sat down, she had finally noticed something that _was_ out of the ordinary; There were crumbs all over the coffee table, and she even noticed a bit of icing on the armrest of the couch.

As soon as she saw this, she had an idea of who the 'burglar' actually was. She went right for the kitchen to confirm her suspicions. She opened the fridge and found that it was almost completely cleaned out.

"So," Mami grinned. "She's back..."

 **V**

Sayaka entered the hospital, holding onto her schoolbag with both hands at her waist. The receptionist, chewing on bubblegum, looked up from a magazine.

"Oh, it's you. You're here to see Kyosuke right? Up on the eighth floor?"

Sayaka nodded, "Yes."

She clicked around on a computer then said, "He should have just finished his physical therapy. You can go on up."

Sayaka said, "Thank you," and went for the elevator. She had been coming here almost every day since Kyosuke's accident. Therefore, most of the nurses and other staff knew her by name.

In the beginning, Kyosuke had seemed very hopeful for himself. In spite of his bed ridden condition there was a certain eagerness in him. Sayaka would listen to classical music with him and he would say things like, "When I get out of here, this is the first song I'm going to play," or, "I'd like to learn this one when my condition gets better," and, "I used to know this one, I can't wait to play it again for you!" Hearing him say things like that always made Sayaka feel so happy. She would nod and reassure him by saying something like, "Yeah, that'll be great! I can't wait!" She believed it, and he believed it. It was never a question of _if_ he got better, it was always a question of _when_.

Over the last few weeks, however, those kinds of comments became less and less. He still seemed to enjoy listening to the music, most of the time. Other times, he would just stare out the window with a faraway look in his eyes. It made Sayaka feel so sad for him when he was like that, but she resolved herself to stay by his side and help him through it.

When she got to his room, she gave the door a quick knock and entered.

"Hey, Kyosuke, how's it going?" She said with a big smile.

He was laying on his bed, staring out the window. He turned his head with a half hearted smile and shrugged his shoulders. "You know."

She noticed he had an ear bud in, listening to his CD player. "What are you listening to?" she asked as she took a seat beside him, and set down her bag.

"The Girl With The Flaxen Hair. It's on the CD you brought me yesterday."

"Oh yeah, it's Debussy, right? It's a beautiful song." Kyosuke didn't say anything back, but looked back to his window. "You know," Sayaka started, trying to break the silence, "Most people don't think of me as the kind of girl who listens to classical music. When I can name a piece correctly I always get looks like _'woah, seriously?'_ Heh, I guess I owe that to you, I probably never would have started listening to this stuff if you hadn't gotten me into it. It's all really great, though. I love it." There it was, that sad distant look in his eyes. Sayaka fidgeted in her seat a bit, trying to think of what to say. "I- I can't wait for you to get better so I can hear you play again! That'll be great, right?"

His weak crippled hand pulled meekly at the bed sheets, his eyes shifted, and his slow shaking hand reached up and pulled the headphone from his ear.

"I don't need this crap," he said, his voice as cold as stone.

Sayaka was taken back by the sudden coldness. "S-sorry um… what's the matter Kyousuke?"

"Why do you keep torturing me with this?" he said, "I'm never going to play again."

"Hey, come on, you don't know that."

"It's true!" He suddenly shouted at her with a fierce look in his eyes.

"K-Kyousuke, you just have to have faith. You just got to-"

"Would you shut up already!?" He shouted as his hand rose in the air and crashed back down on top of the CD player again, shattering it. Sayaka gasped and stood up from her seat. "Even if I learned to walk, my hands will never be any good. I'll never be able to play anything ever again! It's impossible!" His hand started bleeding, and he moved as if he were going to smash it against the player a second time.

Sayaka grabbed onto him and tried and calm him down, "Don't say that! You don't know, they'll think of something! They'll find a way!"

"They're the ones who told me!" He yelled, "They said it's impossible, that there's nothing more modern medicine can do. They told me to give up! They told me I'll never play again!" His body tossed and turned, trying to let out his anger but unable to fully do so because of his paralysis. Sayaka held him tightly, burying her face into him and trying to keep him still.

"Just believe!" Sayaka shouted, "Miracles happen all the time! You'll see! There will be a miracle!" Then his body started convulsing. His eyes rolled back in his head and his limbs twisted and turned violently. Sayaka, not sure what was happening, held onto him even tighter, and started screaming for help.

She screamed and called for help, holding onto his spasming body as tightly as she could. Then, she felt a strong hand grab her by the shoulder and pull her away. She stood by and watched in horror as doctors descended upon his convulsing body. She felt tears welling up, but she didn't cry. A nurse put a soft hand on her shoulder and turned her away. "You should go for now." She spoke hurriedly, but in the kindliest voice possible given the situation. Sayaka just grabbed her bag and ran out of the room, unable to bare the sight of it.

She ran down the hall, holding back her tears. She held them in as she waited for the elevator. Inside the elevator, she held it back. Through the lobby she didn't see the receptionist wave goodbye. She held it back, and held it back.

Once outside and descending the front steps she couldn't take it any longer. Her bag dropped from her hand, and she sat down hard, burying her hands into her face. She cried like she had never cried before. She didn't care that she was out in public and she didn't care if anyone saw her. It was too horrible! She couldn't hold her emotions back any longer.

Her tears helped dampen her sorrow, and when enough of it was gone she felt she could once again open her eyes. Open her eyes, and face the awful world that surrounded her. As she lifted her face from her hands, she saw two soulless red eyes staring at her. His expressionless face stared her down as his fluffy white tail waved back and forth.

"What's wrong? Sayaka Miki?"


	12. I made you a promise

**Chapter 12**

 **I**

Madoka sat at the kitchen bar, playing a game of solitaire with a deck of cards she found in a junk drawer. Homura sat on the couch, watching TV. Homura had tried to start up conversations with her throughout the day, about things unrelated to the whole kidnapping situation, but it hadn't really worked. Madoka's cheery mood from the morning quickly dissipated and it seemed she no longer wanted to talk at all.

Madoka had planned on being more outgoing, hoping to gain Homura's trust and eventually getting her to let her guard down. Unfortunately, Madoka was bad at operating under pretenses, and she was always a bad liar. This resulted in her just quickly brushing off Homura's attempts at communication.

Madoka's mind had been preoccupied all day with escape plans, none of which were any good. She thought about sneaking up on Homura while she was watching TV and whacking her over the head with a frying pan, then making an easy escape while her captor was unconscious. She knew that was a lousy plan, though, and didn't actually make an attempt at it. Maybe it could work if she was strong like Sayaka, but she was not, and it simply wasn't in her to be violent in the first place.

If she _had_ gone with that plan it wouldn't have ended with an unconscious Homura. It would have ended with an angry Homura with a bad lump on her head and Madoka desperately apologizing just seconds after the blow. More to the point, who knew what Homura would do to her after that? She didn't think Homura was entirely a bad person, but she didn't think it was outside her personality to start getting mean. She had been mean before, and in those moments Madoka was afraid of what she might do.

Would any escape attempts be punished? Madoka thought back to that look in her eyes back when she was tied to the bed. Madoka didn't want to acknowledge it, but it was there. Homura had gotten some kind of pleasure out of seeing Madoka like that. Madoka thought that should scare her more than anything, and it did a little, but somehow there was something too... _loving_... about it for it to be truly scary. Creepy? Maybe, but not scary. Getting whacked over the head with a frying pan might change that, however, so Madoka thought she had best be careful not to provoke her captor.

There was one idea that lingered in her head, however. The letter. Homura had promised to let her write a letter to her parents. There was a notepad in the hotel room, but it was of a brand the hotel itself provided so Homura wouldn't let her use that. She claimed that it could be enough for a clever detective to start honing in on their location. Therefore, Madoka was going to have to wait for her to go out again and get some neutrally branded paper.

Madoka was already thinking of ways she could fit a secret message in. She didn't know how, though. Surely Homura would proofread it before making the delivery, so it would have to be something very vague that she couldn't pick up on. Madoka now more than ever wished she was a little smarter. She hadn't even thought to check the name of the hotel or memorize its location when Homura dragged her here. Even if Homura allowed her to make an actual phone call, she still wouldn't be able to reveal her location because she didn't know where she was! She cursed herself for being so stupid.

She stared down at her solitaire game, discovering that she was out of moves with only two aces pulled from the deck. She started to become very frustrated with herself. Not just because of the card game, but because of her total lack of a decent plan to get out of this. If Sayaka were in this situation she already would have gone through a handful of escape plans. If it were Sayaka she probably would have been completely out of this by now! All Madoka herself had managed to do all day was sit around and lose at a lousy card game! She sat back and sighed heavily to relieve some of her stress. Homura must have noticed, because her head turned from the TV to look at Madoka.

Madoka wouldn't look back at her, she was stuck in a moment of anger and self pity and just wanted to be left alone. Still, she could feel Homura's eyes on her, and that only made her more upset.

Homura stood up and walked over to her, taking a seat across from her at the bar. "We should talk," she said.

At first it seemed Madoka wouldn't respond, but Homura waited her out until she said, "What's there to talk about?" in a sullen, dismissive voice. Homura continued with the silent approach. Her past attempts at communication were brushed off so she thought she would force Madoka to start this time. Finally, she did. "I want to go home, but you won't let me. I have a life you know. What about school?"

"If you like, I can get some textbooks so you can keep up."

Madoka sighed and started gathering up the cards, still refusing to actually look at the girl who has whisked her away from her normal everyday life. "That's not the point!"

"I wish there was a better way," said Homura, "but I can't think of any. For what it's worth, I acknowledge that this is hard for you. Also, I haven't done the best job at making things any easier. For that I apologize. This is for your own good, though." Madoka didn't seem to want to respond, so Homura pressed on, "You do believe me when I say that, don't you?"

"I don't know _what_ to believe. I don't think you're doing all this just to mess with me, but none of it feels very real. I think there are things you are not telling me."

Madoka was right, but Homura had no choice but to keep the danger vague. It was enough for her to have just the small glimmer of the truth that she _had_ given to her. If she knew the whole truth it would only make things worse. "I'm right, aren't I?" Madoka said, "That's why you won't respond."

"It's complicated," is all Homura could think to settle on. They were both silent as Madoka got up and returned the cards to the junk drawer. After closing the drawer, she just stood there in silence.

Homura felt this was a crucial moment, but she didn't know what to do. What happened to the cheery Madoka from this morning? She could see now that it was an act, one that was so far from the truth that Madoka couldn't keep the mask on even through one afternoon. She hated this, she just wanted to have Madoka, have her be safe, and have her love as she did in a past life that was now so far and gone that it lingered only as a half remembered dream.

"Why are you doing this?" Madoka finally said.

Homura looked up, not sure if it was an accusation or an actual question. "I'm trying to keep you safe," she said, which was something she already explained many times.

"I mean _why_? This time travel thing is hard to wrap my head around, but if it truly is the way you have explained it, why go through such a horrible ordeal for my sake?"

"Because, I-" _I love you?_ Could she really just say that? "Because... I... I made you a promise."

Madoka looked at her for the first time since this conversation started. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. She was asking, _is that it?_ Just like with Homura's refusal to tell her about Walpurgisnacht, Madoka could see she wasn't saying _everything_. Homura's half truths and lack of explanations were finally getting to her, and she was in no mood for it. Madoka walked past her without a word, making it clear that she was done with this conversation.

She walked into the bedroom and slammed the door behind herself.

Homura still sat at the bar, her head resting between her hands, staring down at the counter, silently.

 _Because you saved my life, and I made you a promise,_ and _I love you._

 **II**

Mami raced across the rooftops of Mitakihara Town. She had no way of knowing how long ago Kyoko had visited her apartment, or how far she had gotten, but she didn't want to miss this chance to see her again. They had departed on a sour note all those years ago, but given the chance Mami would like to at least try to repair the distance. Although, she also knew she had to be cautious. It was entirely probable that Kyoko had came back to Mitakihara looking to start a war.

Mami still wanted to think of her as the kindhearted girl she once was, but the truth is Kyoko had changed. Mami honestly didn't know this person that she had become. Mami didn't know the limits to her violence, or how cold and unforgiving she could be. The Kyoko who she had known before never could have broken into someone's apartment, or betrayed a friend's heart the way she had those years ago when they first separated.

Mami jumped from rooftop to rooftop, using her ribbons to pull her across any gaps that were too far for her to jump. When she landed on one of the cities higher rooftops, she stopped and crouched over the edge. She looked all around the city, spending some magic power to improve her eyesight. Where could Kyoko be? It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Mami had no way of knowing even if Kyoko was still in the city or not, maybe she was just passing through earlier and was already on her way to some distant place.

Mami sat down completely, letting her legs hang over the edge of the building, and watched the cities dancing lights, all nestled below the purple sky of a setting sun. If it was Kyoko's first day back in Mitakihara, where would she go? Well, Mami already knew the first order of business for Kyoko would be getting food, which she apparently had already achieved. So where would she go next? Find shelter for the night? Or was she on a witch hunt?

Mami figured it would be impossible to tell for now. If Kyoko did move back to Mitakihara permanently, however, then there was no doubt that they would cross paths sooner or later.

 **III**

The south side of the city was a poor and desolate place. The street was littered with garbage and anywhere you looked you could see boarded up windows. Down an alley, there were a group of degenerates rolling dice, down another street there was a stumbling man with a crazed look in his eyes.

If you were to look through one of the boarded up windows, you might find a group of people who were lost to the world; laying amongst one another with fresh tracks running down their arms. In one specific window, you would see something else. You would see a girl, all alone, laid down with a duffle bag between her back and the wall. To one side she had a small wooden crate with a glowing jewel atop it, giving her light. To the other side she had a bag of chips, and in her hand there was a manga she had stolen earlier that day.

Kyoko crunched down on a chip, then giggled as she read something she found particularly funny, she turned the page, and reached for another chip. She reached into the bag and her fingers grabbed nothing but plastic. She held it up and looked inside with a frown, seeing that her chips were now all gone. She sighed, tossing it to the side, and looked back to her book.

Through the corner of her eye she saw a face staring at her from atop the crate her SoulGem was on. She jumped, startled, then sighed when she realized what it was.

"Oh, it's you. I was wondering when you would show up," she said to Kyubey.

"Sorry about that," said Kyubey. "There were a few other matters I've been attending to these last couple days." His tail waved. "Have you found any GriefSeeds since then?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I did." She reached behind her head and into a pocket on the side of the duffle bag. She pulled out a spent GriefSeed and tossed it over to him. "Here, enjoy."

Kyubey lifted his butt in the air as the flesh upon his back opened and snatched the GriefSeed out of the air.

"That's really freaky, you know," Kyoko said to him.

"Is it really? Personally, I think you humans have much more oddities about you than I do."

" _Riiight_ ," said Kyoko as she turned back to her manga. "So is there anything else you need?"

"Not really, I was just surprised to find you here in Mitakihara Town is all."

"Yeah, Kazamino is tapped, and I needed a change of pace. Figured I'd come stir up trouble over here for a while." She grinned, "It's still just Mami running the show around here, right?"

"Actually, that was the case a few days ago but..."

Kyoko set down her book and raised an eyebrow. " _Buuut?_ "

"Well, I actually had just contracted a new Magical Girl less than an hour ago, and aside from her there is another one who showed up a couple days ago completely out of nowhere."

"Aw man! Are you kidding me? So there's three Magical Girls working in this town now?"

"It looks that way."

Kyoko folded her arms with a huff and said, "So there's Mami, and there's a rookie. What can you tell me about the third one?"

"This third one is an anomaly. I'm not sure where she came from, and somehow she became a Magical Girl without directly making a contract with me."

"Is that even possible?" Kyoko asked.

"It shouldn't be," Kyubey agreed. "But she seems to be the competitive type of Magical Girl. After only one day in town she stole a GriefSeed right out of Mami's hand and even kidnapped another potential Magical Girl to stop her from making a contract with me."

"Is that right? Sounds like a lot to go through but I think I kind of like her style."

"The girl who she kidnapped was a good friend of the new girl who I had just contracted. Mami had already promised to help the new girl rescue her friend, so it looks like the two of them will be teaming up."

"So Mami is still doing that shit, huh? I swear she will never learn." Kyoko put her hands behind her head and laid her head back down on her duffle bag. She thought over everything Kyubey had told her. It seemed she had stumbled into a rather bizarre situation, and was wondering how to use it all to her advantage.

 **IV**

Mami patrolled the city for a while that night. Hoping on the off chance of an encounter with Kyoko, but not actually expecting it. It was a big city after all. She followed some leads on witches, and thought she was getting hot on one's trail for a while, but eventually lost it and decided she'd pick up the hunt again tomorrow.

On her way back though, she did spot a familiar hanging around outside the park. She made one of her guns appear, morphed it into a long range sniper rifle, and took the familiar out from a distance before it ever even knew what hit it. She dispelled the gun, and took another quick look around with her magic enhanced eyes. She figured at least now the night hadn't been a total waste, and decided to go back home.

She found a safe place outside her apartment complex to morph back into her street clothes. Then she returned up the stairs as normally as if she had just finished running an errand. She wondered what Sayaka was doing right now. She was excited about the prospect of having another Magical Girl to team up with again, but she also had some deep concerns about it. Things had ended so badly with Kyoko and she never wanted to go through that again. She shook the fear away though, and thought that what happened to Kyoko just meant that she would have to try even harder for Sayaka (if she did become a Magical Girl).

As she reached the top of the stairs, and turned the corner to her floor, she saw the blue haired girl who she had just been thinking of. She was sitting down, with her back against Mami's apartment door. She was looking at something resting on the palm of her hand.

"Sayaka!" Mami called to her, running over, excited to see her. She slowed down when she noticed Sayaka's lack of enthusiasm. "Is... everything alright?"

Sayaka looked up at her with the tired eyes of someone who had just been through a trying ordeal. "Yeah," she said, with a bit of a forced smile. "Things are great. Well, now they are anyway."

She held up her hand, revealing a newly born SoulGem that reflected its rainbow light into her deep blue eyes.

With a gasp, Mami took a step back. She paused, then smiled, and with her soft voice she said, "Why don't you come in for a while?"


	13. I need to trust you

**Chapter 13**

 **I**

After Madoka had slammed the bedroom door, she waited for a while to see if Homura would follow her in. She put her ear against the door and listened very closely for any sounds or movement. It seemed the cold shoulder was effective and Homura was going to leave her alone, at least for a little while. So, she reached up her sleeve and pulled out the thing that she had snuck out of the kitchen before storming off.

She held up the knife and looked at it with a glitter in her eyes, proud of herself for managing to do something so sneaky! Now she just needed to think of a good way to hide it. It needed to be somewhere she would have a chance of reaching from the bed. Under the mattress was the most obvious option, but it was a little _too_ obvious.

She walked around the bed, from one side to the other, examining all its corners. She lifted up the mattress enough to look under it (being very careful not to make much noise as she did so). Would Homura think to check here before leaving? She wasn't sure. She knocked herself on the head and thought, _think, think, think!_

She had the knife, but that was only half of the plan. She needed a way to get to it once Homura left for the night so she could cut herself free. Although, if Homura tied her up spread eagle as she did the night before she wouldn't be able to reach it no matter where it was stashed. So, phase two of the plan would be convincing Homura to tie her up in a way that gave her more freedom. She didn't know how to do it yet, but she hoped she would think of something.

For now, she set the knife down on the nightstand, then crossed her arms behind her back and laid down on the bed. She reached her foot out and tried to see if she could get it under the mattress. If she scooted herself close to the edge and bent her leg just right, she could push her toes under the crevice between the mattress and the box spring. It was an awkward position, and she thought even if her toes could manage to grab the knife, chances are she would just end up dropping it on the ground.

She unfolded her arms and laid down on the bed normally. Her head laid upon the soft cotton pillow as she stared at the ceiling. _Think._ Then, a thought hit her and she jumped up from the excitement of it. She grabbed the pillow and held it in her lap. She turned it lengthways and pulled it out of the pillowcase just enough to look at its end.

She figured this was the best plan possible, so she grabbed the knife and very carefully cut a slit on the side of the pillow. She then inserted the knife lengthways, and took a good look at what she'd done. The knife was completely hidden, but there was a bit of cotton sticking out of the slit. She pushed it in with her fingers as best she could, but even with the cotton stuffed back in, it was still quite clearly cut. Would Homura notice? It was such a small thing that she might overlook it.

Still, she couldn't afford to get caught, and it wasn't a chance she was going to take. She pulled the pillow out of the pillowcase completely and put it in backwards. Now the unscathed side of the pillow was visible and the cut side was hidden. It would be harder to get to, but it was worth nullifying the extra risk.

Now if she could just get Homura to tie her in a way that allowed a little more mobility, she might be able to get the knife in her hand and cut herself free. It wouldn't be easy, but it was better than nothing and it was the best idea she had so far.

Then, she heard a knock on the door. She quickly laid back down on the bed and folded her arms, forcing a disgruntled look on her face. She knew she wouldn't be able to pull off nonchalance, so she disguised her fervor behind a layer of malcontent. "What?" she answered, harshly.

Homura opened the door enough to stick her head in. "I made dinner. You should come eat before it gets cold."

 **II**

On the bar sat two plates of curry with chopped carrots, potatoes, and rice. Homura was in the kitchen, digging through the refrigerator. Madoka stood, staring at the plates that were set directly across from each other, and she regarded them with suspicion.

Homura produced a pitcher of iced tea and poured it into two glasses. As she set the pitcher down, she noticed Madoka's lack of motion. "It's curry and rice. I got the mild kind for you." Then, she gestured for Madoka to take a seat.

Madoka slowly moved to the chair and sat down. She picked up the fork and moved the food around a bit. She had eaten Homura's cooking this morning, but there was something that hadn't occurred to her back then. It was entirely possible that Homura could drug her food. Breakfast had been bacon and eggs and it would have been hard to alter that is some way without it being easily noticed. With curry it's different, mild or not, the spice would block out any bitter tastes from sleeping pills and they would have dissolved perfectly in the sauce.

Also, it was getting late. Homura already said she planned to go out, therefore she was planning to tie her up again. If she were going to drug her, now would be the time to do it. That way she wouldn't be able to resist, and Homura could go about her business worry free. The ice tea was probably ok, Madoka decided, because she had just watched Homura pour both glasses. Although, to be on the safe side she would still wait for Homura to drink first.

Homura had already taken a few bites off her own plate when she noted that Madoka wasn't eating. "Is everything alright?" she asked, putting her fork down.

Madoka looked away, "I'm... not really hungry."

"You haven't eaten all day. You should really eat at least a little of it. It might be a while before you get another chance." She thought about it for a moment then said, "Or, is there some other reason why you won't eat?" Madoka just stared at her plate. "In this situation it's perfectly understandable that you would be suspicious of me. If you have any concerns just say it. I won't be mad or anything like that."

Madoka moved the food around, timidly. "Well, I was thinking you might have drugged it... or something."

"I see. I suppose it would be pretty easy to do that with curry... Want to switch? Mine is a bit spicier, but you should be able to handle it." Madoka looked between the two plates, not sure how to answer. "For what it's worth, I would never try something as underhanded as that. I know you don't really know me, but I promise I wouldn't betray your trust like that."

Madoka thought, _Oh yeah, that means a whole lot coming from the girl who kidnapped me, broke into my house, and left me tied to a bed for twelve hours!_ Still, she somehow had the feeling that Homura could at least be trusted on this. After all, she did offer up her own plate, and it's not like she really _needed_ to use drugs if she wanted to tie her up. That was already exceptionally clear. Aside from all that, Madoka actually was very hungry, and the smell of the curry was tempting her past her suspicions.

"It's alright. I'll eat it," Madoka said, as she lifted the fork to her mouth and took a bite.

 **III**

"So... what do these witch things look like anyway?" Ventured Madoka, amidst the middle of their meal.

Homura set her fork down and thought about it for a moment. "They are hard to describe. They all look very different from one another. Most of them are pretty frightening, others are just strange, and there's some you might even consider cute.

"One of them takes on the form of a high school girl, except bigger and warped completely out of proportion. You can't really see her face, I'm not even sure if she has one or not, she basically took the form of the lower half of a human girl... except... warped. If that makes any sense. Like I said, it's hard to describe.

"There's another that has butterfly wings, but the body of a slug, and a face that looks like molded meat with rotten juices dripping off it. It has at least twenty eyes, all of which kind of look like roses. You wouldn't really know they were its eyes at first, except it's almost like you can feel it when it's looking at you. Like it's looking directly into your soul, and clawing at something deep inside yourself."

Madoka forked her food and thought about it. The schoolgirl one didn't sound so bad, but the butterfly winged one sounded awfully terrifying, although she was having a hard time imagining it. "You said some of them actually look cute? Tell me about one of those."

"Well, cute was a bit of an exaggeration. The one I was thinking of is what we've called the _sweets witch_. It does seem cute at first, but it's only a ploy to catch you off guard. It takes the form of a small doll, like something a child might play with. Even its voice is kind of childlike."

"Witches can talk?"

"Not really, it doesn't use words that anyone can understand. I don't know if it has its own language or if it's just gibberish. While fighting it, it's always making these noises that sound like speech. It's more like squeaking, actually. The thing is, it eventually transforms into its second form, its true form. That second form is a monstrous creature with razor sharp teeth. I've seen it take out one of the most powerful Magical Girls I've ever known with a single strike." She was referring, of course, to Mami. In most of Homura's past lives she had watched Mami fall victim to the sweets witch. It was likely that Mami would be fighting that witch sometime tomorrow, and chances are she would once again die in the battle unless Homura were to intervene.

"Witches are terrible creatures, they are not something you ever want to lay eyes on. Becoming a Magical Girl means you have to spend the rest of your life doing battle with them. Your only reward at the end of all of it is to turn into a witch yourself. It's a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone, and it's that fate which I hope to save you from, Madoka." She stood up and started gathering the plates. "You're done, right?"

"Um, yes I'm finished. Thank you, it was delicious."

"You're welcome," she said, as she added Madoka's plate to the pile. "So, feeling light headed or anything like that yet?"

It took Madoka a few seconds to realize Homura had made a joke. She didn't think it was very funny, but she laughed anyway.

She now had a full stomach, and although her curry was mild it still left a bit of a tingle on her tongue. She suddenly felt a bit sleepy and let out a long yawn. Homura started rinsing the dishes in the sink and said, "If you want to take a shower you should do it now." Madoka nodded in agreement and went into the bedroom to grab a change of clothes.

She grabbed the pajamas from last night, figuring they were still good for at least one more night, and a fresh pair of panties. She then went for the bathroom. As she crossed the living room, Homura peeked from behind the bar to make sure she didn't go for the front door. Madoka did stop and consider it for a moment, thinking how ironic it was that the barrier between freedom and captivity was so close. If Homura was a normal person she could easily bolt through the door and make a run for it. Because of Homura's power, however, she knew it was impossible.

Although this hotel room had some kind of illusion of freedom, and didn't look much like a prison, that's exactly what it was for her. There were no steel bars securing her inside. Except, technically, there were; they just didn't look like steel bars. The bars in this prison looked like an ordinary highschool girl who was currently standing in the kitchen washing dishes.

The prison breaks displayed in movies never happened during the day or in broad daylight, and she figured real prison breaks were much the same. It had to happen at night, when the guards think you are sleeping and securely locked in your cell. That's the way it was going to be for her. Tonight she was going to get out, she just had phase two of the plan to complete and then she would be home free.

 **IV**

After the shower, Madoka took a good look at herself. The rope marks around her chest and forearms had almost completely faded, they weren't visible unless she looked closely. Around her wrists and ankles there were still some pretty clear impressions. Once she made it home, she figured she would have to try and hide these from her parents, otherwise they would worry that she had been mistreated. Well, she supposed she _had_ been mistreated, being tied up, dragged across town, and left on a bed for twelve hours, but it really wasn't as bad as all that sounded.

Still, she could not just stay like this so she had to get away, and hopefully tonight would be the night. She just needed to find a way to convince Homura to tie her in a way that allowed more freedom. She was not a good liar, but she didn't necessarily _have_ to lie. She was honestly very uncomfortable last night and all she had to do was make a solid case against it.

She rubbed a towel into her hair to dry it a bit, and she put on the pajamas. She held the doorknob for a few seconds while she took a deep breath and assured herself that she would be able to do this, then exited the bathroom.

Homura had been sitting on the couch watching TV while she waited. She looked over her shoulder to Madoka who stood just outside the bathroom and near the front door. She was wearing the pajamas from last night, and her pink hair was down and still damp. Homura loved her ribbons and her pigtails, but also thought she was really cute when her hair was down like this.

"Ready for bed?" Homura asked, casually. Madoka stood there with her fingers fidgeting within one another. Through the corners of her eyes she looked down at the door knob.

Homura stood up and started coming towards her, then stopped when Madoka suddenly grabbed the doorknob and looked back at her with an intense look in her eyes. Homura returned the look with a raised eyebrow and said, "What are you doing?"

"What if." Madoka had to look away and gather her courage, then resumed her intense stare once she found it. "What if… What if I just ran out this door right now?"

Homura sighed. "Then I would drag you right back before you even made it three steps down the hall. You know you can't outrun me."

"You're planning to tie me up again right?"

"Sorry, but I kind of have to. It won't be for long this time. Just go to sleep and it'll be over before you know it." She stepped forward and held out her hand. "Come on."

Madoka looked at her hand, and looked at the door. Being resistant is the more natural reaction for someone who didn't have an escape plan, so that's the impression she had to give. She figured if she came along too willing Homura might be suspicious that she was up to something.

"No," Madoka said firmly. "You're not doing that to me again! I Refuse!"

"You don't have a choice."

Madoka didn't need to fake any emotions to respond to that, "What am I just going to get tied up every night for the rest of my life?" She started yelling, "Am I supposed to just live in this crappy hotel room forever? YOU EXPECT ME TO JUST ACCEPT THA-" She was cut off when Homura suddenly appeared in front of her, and her mouth was stuffed with something that muffled her speech.

"You are being too loud," said Homura, flatly. Madoka tried to take the gag out of her mouth, but Homura disappeared again, reappearing behind her and started pulling her arms behind her back. Madoka screamed through the gag, and pulled away with all her strength, digging her feet into the ground and trying to yank her arms free from Homura's grasp.

Homura let go of her wrists, and instead wrapped her arms fully around Madoka's body, getting her in a bear hug. "Calm down, Madoka! Just relax!" Madoka wriggled and fought against her hold, but couldn't get out of Homura's arms. Homura was much stronger than her, and didn't have much trouble keeping her small body locked against hers.

While holding her, she couldn't help but smell the fresh scents of the shampoo in Madoka's still damp hair. Madoka's struggling continued for a while, but eventually it started to cease. Homura spoke very softly, burying her face into the back of her neck. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you, so just stop it."

Then, unexpectedly, Madoka's body went completely limp, her knees became rubber and she just hung loosely in Homura's arms. "Madoka?" she lowered her captive down to her knees, and loosened her grip. Madoka was sobbing through the gag and repeatedly saying something over and over _"aam aarry!, aam aarry!"_

 _I'm sorry?_

Homura pulled the cloth out of Madoka's mouth. Madoka turned to her, with a red face and glassy tear stricken eyes. "I'm sorry, Homura. I- I'm just scared!"

Homura looked away, feeling guilty, and thought of a solution. "What if I didn't leave tonight? Would you feel better?"

Madoka shook her head instantaneously. It was almost too quick, Homura noted. "No, I want to write a letter to mama. I know she is so worried right now, if she knew I was okay it would make her feel at least a little better. Still, it's scary. Being all alone," Madoka swallowed. "and... and the fact that I couldn't move at all, that was the worst."

Homura thought about this for a moment, noting a certain eagerness in Madoka. The tears acted as good cover, but there was something else hidden there. "How about this. If you don't struggle, I can tie you in a way that allows for more movement. Would that be better?"

"I-I suppose." Madoka tried not to betray any of her true intentions by seeming too excited by the suggestion, but her heart jumped at the words. Her plan was working! It was actually working!

"Come on, then," said Homura, her voice had reverted back to being cold and monotone, her suspicious mind was ticking. Madoka didn't notice, however. She was too excited about what she had just accomplished. Homura helped her to her feet, then lead the way to the bedroom.

Madoka waited a moment before following. When Homura was in the doorway of the bedroom, she stopped.

Madoka wasn't sure if her eyes had played a trick on her or not, but in that moment, _something_ happened. Madoka couldn't put a finger on it, but something about Homura had changed, it was very subtle, but something was different. Homura turned and looked back at her, beckoning her forward with nothing more than a stare.

Madoka followed her into the bedroom, nervously twiddling her fingers, despite herself.

"Take a seat," said Homura, as she went to the closet where she had stashed the rope. Madoka did as she was asked and sat down on the bed with her back turned. Homura climbed onto the bed behind her and said, "Put your arms behind your back." Madoka submissively obeyed, and the next thing she knew the rope was being thrown over her shoulders and wrapped around her body.

When it was all done, she was tied similar to how she was before, with the rope over and under her breasts with a V in the middle. The difference is her arms were now crossed behind her back instead of straight with her hands down by her butt. "Is that comfortable?" Homura asked, pulling on the rope in some places to test it. "It's not too tight?"

"I-I think its okay."

"Alright then, just one more thing." She grabbed a length of rope and ran it through the bed frame, she took both ends and tied them together around the cross between Madoka's arms.

"There," Homura said, brushing her hands off and inspecting her work. "This way you can stand up and walk around the bed a little, if you want. Also, you still won't be able to get at any of the knots because of the way your hands are... Actually, move your hands around a bit so I can see." Madoka obeyed, turning her wrists and reaching as much as she could. Homura seemed satisfied. "As long as you don't break the bed frame this should be fine." She put her hands on the bed frame and tested it. "I really doubt you could pull that off, though. Besides, you wouldn't be able to get the rope off your body either way."

Madoka's hair got a bit tangled up during the struggle, so Homura started running her fingers through it to straighten it out. It was still damp and cold to her touch. Madoka had no choice but to allow it. She didn't hate it, but it did make her feel a bit awkward. "Things won't always be like this," Homura said, still running her fingers through Madoka's hair. "I'll come up with a better living situation, and eventually I think I will be able to trust you more." Madoka didn't say anything. "You have to show me you can be trusted, though. I don't want to hurt you, I just want you to be save. Even if it does not seem like it." She grabbed the rag she had gagged Madoka with earlier and held it where she could see. "Ready for this?"

"Um... Homura?" Madoka asked, meekly, still trapped in her captors embrace. "Could you make one more stop while you are out? There's a photo album in the living room back at my house. If you could grab a picture, one with my whole family in it... well, I really miss them and I think having that will make this a little easier for me."

Homura was slow to respond, but eventually she said, "Sure, no problem." Then she put the rag to Madoka's mouth; she now accepted it willingly and let Homura stuff it inside. Homura tied a small length of rope around her mouth and the back of her head to keep it in place, pulled her hair up to keep it from getting tangled in the rope, then stood.

Madoka, gagged and completely silent, watched her walk away. In the doorway Homura stopped and said, "Like I said, things will get better. I need you to just accept this for what it is, and things will be easier for both of us. Understand?"

There was something about Madoka when she was gagged, Homura thought, it was like the lack of speech made her eyes all the more expressive. It was as if she actually _could_ speak, but she didn't need to say a single word to communicate her thoughts. Madoka looked at her with wide guilty eyes, and nodded.

As soon as Madoka heard the front door shut, she sprang into action. She rolled over to the pillow and got her hands on it. She then started working it out of the pillow case.


	14. That's MY wish!

**Chapter 14**

 **I**

" _I've made my decision. I'll never try and make another person happy, and I'll never try to save anyone ever again. My magic is for me and me alone. Heh, guess you're pretty disillusioned with me now, right Mami? Guess we can't fight together anymore, can we? Well, this is it for you and me. Goodbye."_

Mami laid awake for a long time that night. Sayaka had seemed pretty drained when she showed up, and practically fell asleep over dinner. Therefore, she was already passed out, lying next to Mami in bed. Her face was buried in a pillow and periodically letting out a loud snore. Mami sighed as she got up for a glass of water.

Her couch wasn't very good for sleeping, so she had offered Sayaka a spot on her own bed. It was large enough that they could both fit without it being weird, but she was finding that Sayaka wasn't exactly a sound sleeper. The snoring isn't really what was keeping her up, though. Truthfully, she had been thinking about Kyoko all night. Even as she had conversed with a tired Sayaka over dinner, thoughts of Kyoko were in the back of her mind.

 _"Making father happy was the first step to fulfilling my own wish. Because I want to protect everyone's happiness, that's MY wish!"_ It was hard to imagine that Kyoko as she is now had once said something like that. Those were better days, the days that Mami wished had lasted forever.

Mami poured herself a glass of water from the sink, then stood by a window and watched the dark lamp lit city streets. It was supposed to be a full moon tonight, but storm clouds were rolling in and blackening the sky. The air smelled of rain, although it hadn't actually started yet. Mami wondered if Kyoko was out there, and hoped she was taking care of herself.

Kyoko's father was once a preacher who starting preaching new ideas that the church wasn't too fond of. Therefore, he had been kicked out of the church and Kyoko's family became very poor. Kyoko had strong ideals of justice and fairness in those days, and she believed her father had been mistreated. Therefore, it made sense that she would wish for people to start listening to him again. Unfortunately, her wish backfired, and it ended disastrously.

 _"I want to protect everyone's happiness, that's MY wish!"_ If that is what she had actually wished for, would things have ended differently for her?

Mami finished her water and walked back to the room where Sayaka slept. Thunder roared loudly outside, and a flash of lightning lit the room. Mami stood and watched Sayaka sleep. The sound of rain began to slowly patter until it raised into a constant murmur.

Sayaka had wished to heal a boy's arm. Is that the wish she truly wanted, or did she think granting someone else's wish would also grant her own? That's the mistake Kyoko had made, and Mami prayed that it wouldn't be the same for Sayaka...

...Somewhere, on the far south side of the city, Kyoko woke with a start at the sound of the crashing thunder.

"Momo!" She gasped as she sprang out of her sound sleep. She had been dreaming about her little sister.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around the dark empty room. She shrugged the dream away, and cradled her bag in her arms. She began to reach inside for a snack, only to remember she already drained her supply. She sighed and buried her face into the side of the bag. She closed her eyes and tried to let sleep take her once again.

 **II**

Madoka groaned and wailed with irritation, biting hard onto the cloth gag that was stuffed in her mouth. _"Come on! Come on!"_ she thought vigorously. She slid the knife back and forth across the rope as fast as she could. With the angle her hands were at she couldn't get much force behind it, and being unable to see what she was doing she wasn't sure of her progress.

She buried the side of her face into the mattress and balanced on her knees with her butt high in the air. She thought this position gave her the most leverage. She didn't think that it would take this long, she planned on needing just one quick slice to cut through and free herself. However, she had been sawing away for at least half an hour, all the while fearing that she wasn't actually doing anything. Her heart slowly filled with fear and she started to panic.

Just then, she heard a loud crash and the room flashed with light. She dropped the knife instantly and rolled on top of it to hide it under her body, trying to look as natural as possible. She thought Homura had just come bursting into the room, but realized it was only lightning. Through the gag she let out a frustrated scream and hit her head against the mattress. What was the point of that? She asked herself. The pillow was still out of its pillowcase, so Homura would have known something was up whether she hid the knife or not.

She got the knife back in her hand and rolled onto her side, deciding she might as well try this position now. She bent her wrist and touched the blade to the rope, sliding it up and down lengthways to find where she had been cutting. She felt a clear dip, and it was a small relief to find she had indeed been making some progress. She got back to work, sawing weakly back and forth as best she could, and being careful not to accidentally poke herself in the back.

Then the rain started. As the soft pitter patter got louder and louder she stopped what she was doing. When she had asked Homura to go get a family picture for her, she was honest about wanting that picture, but her true goal was to keep Homura away longer so she would have more time to escape. Would Homura go half way across town in the rain just to get a picture for her? Probably not.

 _"Stupid rain!"_ She thought. This was already taking much longer than she thought it would. If Homura only went to the store she could already be on her way back by now. The idea scared her. The worse part is, if she got caught red handed like this, Homura would be on her guard even more than she already was and another opportunity like this wouldn't be easy to come by.

She thought about just stopping this for now, she could slip the knife back into the pillow and wait for a night when she knew Homura would be gone for longer. The idea was tempting. Getting caught was so scary to her that she would take any excuse to just stop with all this. She might have succeeded in talking herself out of it if not for one thing. She had already started cutting the rope, and it was possible Homura would notice. She wished she could actually see what she had done and make a more informed decision, but ultimately she decided she had already come too far. She was either getting out now or never.

She began sawing away again, crying through the gag and praying inside her head. _"Break, come on, please just break!"_ Finally, she heard a very soft ripping sound, and when she started pulling her body against the bindings she found it was loosening. She was disheartened at first that it wasn't all just coming right off, thinking maybe she needed to cut somewhere else. However, the more she pulled and thrashed her body the looser it got until, finally, her arms broke free.

She raised her arms high in the air and let out a muffled cheer, momentarily forgetting about the gag. She got both hands working at the rope behind her head and pulled the gag out of her mouth as soon as she could, then tossed it onto the floor. The rain poured harder and harder outside. There was another roar of thunder, and lightning flashed. The flash created a slew of random shadows within the room, to which she jumped away from, convinced that one of them had actually been Homura. She held a hand over her racing heart and sighed with relief when she realized that it was just her imagination.

She went for the light switch and then went for her pile of clothes, unbuttoning her pajama and throwing them off in the process. She very quickly selected something better than Pajamas to wear, opting for a long sleeved sweater and a pair of loose fitting pants, not taking time to decide if they matched or not. Her ribbons were laying next to the pile of clothes, she grabbed them and stuffed them into one of the pants pockets without really thinking why she had done that.

Once dressed, which took her only seconds, she grabbed the knife and ran for the door.

 **III**

Homura stopped time and slipped into a book store. The owner held the door half open, preparing to close it and lock up for the night. Once she was out of sight from the front entrance, she resumed time, not wanting to waste too much magic for something like this.

She held out her SoulGem and fed a little bit of power into it, making it bright enough so she could use it as a flashlight. She browsed the manga section and grabbed a few she knew, from past lives, that Madoka would enjoy. When she had a good arm full she went back to the front of the store and found a couple notebooks and some pens. She got a bag from behind the counter and filled it with all her _purchases._

From behind the counter she peeked outside to make sure no one could see her, then she transformed out of her Magical Girl uniform and unlocked the front door. Thunder roared, and a flash lit the otherwise dark streets of the city. A cool wind blew Homura's hair, and her face felt a few cold refreshing drops of water.

She looked to the sky, and even though it was night she could see the thick rain clouds forming overhead. The raindrops became more and more consistent as she walked, until it gave way into a full downpour. She went for a small convenience store down the street, hoping to find an umbrella there.

Inside, she found a bucket by the front door filled with umbrellas. She grabbed one, then went to the snack aisle and selected a few more things. She also got a roll of tape from the miscellaneous aisle. She brought all this back to the front counter, opting to actually pay this time.

"Came out of nowhere, didn't it?" said the clerk as he scanned the umbrella and started bagging her other purchases.

"Yes, it sure did."

She paid for her items and left the store, opening the umbrella as she made it outside. She had told Madoka she would go back to her house for something, but it seemed that would be too much trouble because of the weather. She was going to end up going there tomorrow anyway, to deliver Madoka's letter, so she didn't see much point in troubling herself with it now. She was sure Madoka wouldn't mind too much, so she went back to the hotel.

She passed through the lobby, not bothering to try and hide herself. The front desk didn't have anyone behind it, but it usually didn't matter if she just casually strolled by as if she belonged there. She got in the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. The elevator let out a ring and buzzed as it started to rise.

Homura had thought Madoka was up to something earlier. She didn't know what though. After their struggle, and getting Madoka to agree to come along willingly, Homura had stopped time and quickly snooped around the room. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she checked under the mattress, inside the nightstand, under the bed, and all around it. She had even grabbed the pillows and felt around the outside to see if Madoka had stashed something there. She thought about taking the pillow out of its case and inspecting more thoroughly, but she stopped herself.

When she was done snooping, she went back to where she was originally standing and tried her best to mimic the same pose so Madoka wouldn't realize she had done something. She thought she was successful.

She didn't want to be so untrusting of Madoka. Sure, they were not yet to the point where Madoka could be trusted easily, but if this relationship was going to work she figured she had to start somewhere. Besides, with her power it was impossible for Madoka to stay away from her, or resist her, and surely Madoka knew that. Once she got around to accepting this as a fact, and also accepting her new life for what it was, Homura knew that things would start to get better.

The elevator reached the top floor, and she picked her bags back up. She shifted the food bag into the same hand as the book bag, and reached into her pocket for the room key that she had stolen from the front desk the night before.

She wondered if Madoka would be asleep already? She put the key into the door. She hoped she was awake, she thought it would be nice if they could lay together for a while and read one of the manga she had bought. Well, maybe Madoka was still upset with her and wouldn't be ready for all that yet, but Homura knew they would have that relationship again soon enough. No matter what, in all of Homura's past lives Madoka had eventually gotten close to her. This life wouldn't be any different, and now Homura was going to be able to keep her closer than ever before.

She turned the key and opened the door. Two steps into the hotel room, the bags dropped from her hands. The bedroom door was wide open and the lights were on. Homura ran to the room and gasped when she saw that the bed had nothing but loose ropes laying around on top of it, and with no Madoka to be found. "NO!" She screamed and jumped on the bed, gathering the ropes in her hands as if trying to find some proof that this was all a lie. _But how_

Then she saw the pillow, lying near the edge of the bed, outside of its pillow case. She grabbed it and inspected it closer. It didn't take her long to find the spot where it had been cut. "So, that's what you were up to. Stupid girl." She walked to the window and put her SoulGem to her eyes to improve her sight. She stuck her head out the window and looked around. With her magic enhanced eyes, she saw a pink hair disappearing around a corner just a few blocks away.


	15. Where are you?

**Chapter 15**

 **I**

For the first few blocks, Madoka ran as fast as she could, trying to get as much distance on the hotel as she could before Homura got back. The rain was pouring down so hard that she was completely soaked in a matter of minutes. She wasn't too familiar with the area she was in, but she at least had some vague sense of which direction to find the park. If she could make it there, she would be back in familiar territory and would be able to get wherever she needed to go.

She knew exactly where she wanted to go, too: Sayaka's house. Going to the police might have seemed like the more practical option, but she knew no one would believe her story. Nor could she make them understand that the kidnapper had the power to pull her right out of the police station from right under their noses. No, they wouldn't be able to help her. If she went to Sayaka, however, she knew she could make her understand the situation and they could run away together to somewhere Homura could not find them. Even if Sayaka didn't one hundred percent believe the time stopping scenario, she would come along anyway, Madoka knew she would.

After a few more blocks Madoka slowed her pace down, not wanting to completely wear herself out. She cursed herself for choosing a sweatshirt to wear, she hadn't considered how heavy it would become when soaked in rainwater. At least the rain was starting to let up a bit, it was a heavy downpour before but now it reduced itself to a light drizzle.

She was getting away from the condensed part of the city now, there were less high rising buildings, and she thought she was starting to see some things that were at least a little more familiar. She noted a certain restaurant that she had eaten at with her family once before. Its doors were locked and the neon _open_ sign was turned off so only the outlines of the letters could be seen.

It was strange seeing the city at night like this, and a little bit eerie too. She had never been out this late before, and she jumped at every random unexplainable noise that came from the darkness. At one point she heard two men shouting at each other from a nearby apartment. It sounded like the argument was getting violent, and she got scared and quickened her pace until she couldn't hear it anymore. She felt for the knife that she had hidden up her sleeve, and took some small comfort in having it, although, she sincerely doubted she would be able to use it even when needed.

Then, she saw the café that she would go to after school with Hitomi and Sayaka. Her heart leaped with joy when she saw it, because she now knew exactly where she was. Having a more solid sense of direction renewed her vigor and it motivated her to quicken her pace once again.

She was anxious to get off the city streets, and she was excited to see Sayaka again. She wondered how she would react. Madoka decided she would just let herself in and then shake Sayaka awake. She would probably wake up all grumpy saying something like, _"Madoka? Do you have any idea what time it- MADOKA!"_ Then she would wrap her arms around her and everything would be ok. The idea forced a smile on Madoka's face and she giggled while thinking about it.

She would have to change her clothes, and then they would leave as soon as possible. She would have to convince her that they needed to stay in a hotel at least for that night so the kidnapper couldn't find her. Sayaka, of course, would suggest calling the police, but all Madoka would have to say is _"Just trust me, I'll explain everything later."_ and Sayaka would listen. She knew she would have a hard time actually explaining the whole Magical Girl thing, and everything else that Homura had told her, but Madoka figured she would worry about that later. For now she just needed to get somewhere safe.

Normally when she walked to Sayaka's house from the café it would take a while. Usually they would stop and joke around, and look in store windows on the way. Now that she was running straight through, the trip seemed much shorter. Before she knew it she was standing at the end of Sayaka's driveway. She stopped, and let out a deep sigh of relief.

She went to the front door, and lifted up a potted plant where Sayaka had a spare key hidden. She unlocked the door as quickly as she could and then went inside. "Sayaka!" she called as she entered the house. She stormed right for Sayaka's bedroom door. "Sayaka it's me! I'm back!" She threw the door open, and her heart sank to the bottom of her chest when she saw that the bed was empty. Sayaka was not here.

 **II**

Sayaka's parents were both overseas business people and thus spent a lot of time away from home. It was partly because of this that Madoka and Sayaka ended up becoming so close. When Sayaka was younger she use to stay at Madoka's house while her parents were away. In those days they practically lived like sisters; Eating dinner together, sleeping in the same room, getting ready for school together, they even use to bathe together. They were inseparable; even when Sayaka became old enough to stay home alone, they still had sleepovers all the time.

"Sayaka... Where are you?" Madoka whispered in a sad cracked voice as she stood over the bed. She ran her hand over the sheets, and brushed a tear away from her eye. Where was she suppose to go now? She didn't have any money, and she thought for sure Homura would definitely find her if she went back to her own house.

Sayaka had her parent's credit card, so they would have been able to run to a hotel or something, but Sayaka wasn't here. Madoka went to the bathroom and knocked loudly, "Sayaka?" she called, then opened the door and looked inside. She checked every room in the house, hoping on that slim desperate chance that she would find her. She even went to the basement and called down into the darkness. She didn't actually go down, because the light was always very dim, and really creepy at night.

When she was younger, she and Sayaka were having a sleepover and dared each other to go down into that same basement. They had held hands all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. Madoka had clung tight to Sayaka's arm once they made it all the way down, visibly shaking, but Sayaka put on a brave face and said _"This is nothing."_ However, when the boiler randomly kicked on they both ran back up the stairs screaming their heads off. Sayaka's mother met them at the top, wanting to know what all the commotion was about.

Madoka paced back and forth in the empty house, trying to think what to do now. She supposed her only option left was to go back to her own home. She would have to convince her mother that she needed to go hide out somewhere, for reasons she couldn't fully explain. She always was a good listener and always came through for Madoka in the past. Thinking about it, Madoka thought maybe going back to her own house is what she should have done in the first place, but she just really wanted to see Sayaka again.

She was pacing around the kitchen when she finally made her decision. First, she needed to change her clothes. She was soaked to the bone, and could feel a chill setting in. She decided she would need to borrow something from Sayaka. Sayaka was a bit taller than her, but their sizes were close enough that her clothes should fit just fine.

When she walked into the dining room, she froze. The room was dark, and she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her at first, but a flash of lightning revealed a black silhouette sitting at the table. Madoka gasped, and fell back, hitting the wall. Her hands trembled as the shadow rose from its seat and stepped into a dim ray of light that was shining in from a window.

"I thought you would come here." Her voice was cold as stone. "Hope you had fun. It's time to go back."

 **III**

Homura looked at Madoka's scared face, her trembling lips. She was soaking wet, water still dripping from her hair and the sleeves of her sweater. She just stood with her back to the wall, eyes wide, staring in disbelief.

"I thought you understood," said Homura as she stepped closer and closer until she was standing mere inches away. "You can not get away from me." Her hand raised and touched the side of Madoka's face, her thumb gently petting her. "It doesn't matter where you go, Madoka. I can find you, and when I do all I have to do is stop time and take you right back. So escaping is pointless, don't you get that?"

Madoka's wide eyes stared at Homura, then shifted over to the hand that was touching her face. With a deep breath and a sudden intense look of determination, she reached into her sleeve and her hands shot at Homura's neck. Homura took a step back, not needing to try very hard to avoid the unresolved blow. Madoka stood with the knife shaking in her hands, just inches away from Homura's neck. Homura clicked her teeth and brushed her hair back, looking at the blade as if it were some disgusting thing. "Why don't you put that down?"

"What did you do to her!" Madoka shouted.

Homura's eyes shifted away, surprised by the accusation. "Miki? She was never here." Her voice became defensive. "I would never do anything to harm her or anyone else. Whatever you may think of me, I'm not _that_ kind of person."

Madoka's face scrunched up, and with a cry her shaking hands loosened their grip and the knife dropped to the ground. Her back against the wall, she slid down until her butt was on the floor and her head buried itself down into her knees.

"I'm sorry!" She shouted, and started to whimper.

Homura lowered herself down to Madoka's level. Her long pink hair was tangled and hanging over her knees, and her face was hidden between her legs. Homura reached a hand out to brush her hair back, but with a cry Madoka shook away from her touch, and the hand receded. Homura sunk back, and sat down completely on the floor, across from Madoka, and just watched her.

Madoka wasn't allowing herself to cry openly, but she was doing so silently, with her face hidden. Buried in her knees, tears were flowing freely from her eyes.

Homura didn't know if there's anything she should do in this situation. Part of her just wanted to grab Madoka and hug her deeply, and make all the sadness go away, but Madoka had rejected her attempt at comfort. So she waited.

After a while, Madoka spoke with a choked whisper. "I won't tell anyone, i-if you just let me go, I promise. We can forget about all this. You can come back to school, and I won't say anything to anyone. I-I'll say I was blindfolded, and I didn't see who did it. Then, they just let me go, a-and..."

"I can't do that."

Madoka rocked back and forth inside her knees. "I won't sign the contract! I won't! I won't!" Homura didn't respond. "I won't," she sniffed. "I promise I won't!"

Homura stood and walked back to the dining room table where she took a seat. "When you are ready, get changed into some dry clothes. I'm sure Miki-san won't mind. Then we have to go back."

 **IV**

After a while, Madoka regained her composure and looked up. Homura sat at the table, one leg crossed over the other, watching her from the dark with expressionless eyes. Madoka slowly raised herself back to her feet, and moved towards Sayaka's bedroom. She stopped when she realized Homura had gotten up and started following her.

"I'm getting changed now. Can I have some privacy?" she said.

"I don't want anymore tricks from you tonight," said Homura. "I have to keep my eye on you." Madoka opened her mouth to complain but Homura cut her off before she could, "I'll keep my back turned." Homura had that cold commanding look on her face, and it killed any courage Madoka had to complain about this.

Homura sat down on the bed, her back facing the dresser. Madoka looked back and forth between Homura and the dresser, uneasily, fidgeting her hands within one another. Then she sighed and opened the drawers and started looking though.

She moved slowly, trying to buy some time while she thought of something. She had come this far, was she really just going to go right back? She had no idea what to do, though. As she was looking through, she remembered something: she had her ribbons in her pocket. She glanced back at Homura, and saw that her head had turned with one eye watching Madoka's every move. "If you're up to something," Homura said in a cool calm voice, "Please just forget it. The more trouble you cause means the less freedom I'll be able to give you in the future. Understand?"

This made Madoka want to scream at her, and get into another fight, but she felt as though all her aggression had already been stripped from her. She just nodded weakly, and looked back to the dresser. She found a white skirt with a cute blue flower design running down the side. She knew that this was one of Sayaka's favorites and she knew she would notice it was missing. If she could at least leave some sign that she was here it might be enough to send out a signal that she wasn't far away, thus making it easier for the police to search for her. It was a long shot, and probably not much would come of it, but it was the best she could think of.

She laid the skirt on top of the dresser, and found a matching white and blue top which she laid next to it, along with a pair of socks. She turned to see Homura was still watching her, and she said, "I-I'm changing now. Don't peek, okay?" Homura's intense eyes stared into her for a moment longer, as if trying to read something, but finally she agreed with a nod and turned her head away.

Madoka pulled the soaked sweatshirt up over her head, and quickly replaced it with the shirt she had chosen. Then she did the same with her pants, but as she was taking them off her hand very quickly shot into her pocket and grabbed one of the ribbons. She glanced back to see if Homura was looking, and she wasn't, so Madoka stuffed the ribbon down into the dresser drawer, and finished getting changed. She glanced back a few times in the process to make sure Homura kept her word, and it seemed that she had. She took the second ribbon and stuffed it into her skirt, just incase.

"O-ok, I'm finished," said Madoka as she closed the dresser drawer. Homura stood up and walked over to her, intently. She pushed Madoka to the side with a soft touch, and started examining the dresser. "What?" Madoka asked, quickly trying to think of a way to draw her attention away. Homura didn't bother acknowledging her at all, but opened the dresser drawer and started delicately lifting up articles of clothing. Madoka watched anxiously, every fiber of her praying and willing for Homura to not find it. Her heart sank even deeper when Homura raised the ribbon up and held it out to show it to her. She raised a scrupulous eyebrow as if asking for an explanation. Madoka just sunk back into her shoulders and grinned awkwardly.

"Do I really need to start watching you change too?" Homura asked. Madoka's eyes shifted away, she should have been mad about Homura saying something like that but for some reason all she felt was guilt. "I guess it can't be helped, but this really needs to stop." She sighed and looked at Madoka deeply. She looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn't. Instead, she turned away, flung her hair back, and disappeared.

"Homura?" Madoka looked around, confused, and feeling nervous. Whenever Homura randomly disappeared like that it never meant anything good. She wasn't gone for long, though. After a few seconds she reappeared, holding a chain and a dog collar. When Madoka saw it her eyes widened and she slowly started shaking her head and backing away. "No, Homura... you can't mean..."

"This is the best I could come up with on short notice." Her eyes narrowed. "I wasn't expecting to have to chase you half way across the city tonight, you know."

Madoka touched a hand to her neck, she started to blush and her eyes shifted away. "But, something like that..." She shook her head slowly. "No!"

"I need a way to keep contact with you so I can pull you into my time flow. Like I said, this is the best I could come up with." She stepped forward, holding out the open dog collar. "Won't it be more dignified if you just accept this? Rather than having me drag you across the city again? Because I will do that if I have to."

Madoka's eyes shifted around, trying to decide what to do, all the while her face growing redder and redder. Ultimately, she knew resistance was futile, she missed her chance to get away, and now her freedom was gone once again. Her hands dropped down to her skirt and grabbed onto its delicate cloth with two tightly balled fists. She bowed her head forward with closed eyes and a nervous tight lipped frown. She kept that position until she felt the collar lock around her neck.


	16. The danger is real

**Chapter 16**

 **I**

Madoka, collared and chained, looked up with wide doey eyes, her fists still clenched around the hem of the skirt she was wearing.

 _"She's... too cute..."_ Homura had to look away, lest she suffer a nosebleed. She tried her best to hide her feelings behind a cough and force a serious expression back onto her face. "It's ok, right? It's not too tight or anything?"

"I don't think so..." Madoka's hands grudgingly released the skirt and raised to the collar. It was made of strong a fabric, colored pink, and had small metal spikes every couple inches all the way around. Madoka ran both of her hands around it, as if verifying it was there. Then with downcast eyes she spoke in a small disgruntled voice "Do I really have to wear this?" Homura nodded. "What if someone sees me?"

"I'll be careful not to let that happen. I have to keep you hidden anyway, there are news reports out about you so it would be bad if someone recognized you, right?"

Madoka's hand tensed around the collar, as if she was thinking about ripping it off, but her eyes dropped and traced the chain that ran from her neck down to where it was held in Homura's hand. She let go, and spoke in that same small voice. "Okay..."

Homura looked into her eyes, Madoka avoided meeting the gaze and just stared at the ground. "We'll be lucky if no one has already seen you. More importantly, it's lucky that Kyubey did not notice you while you were out. It'll be fine now that I'm here, but it could have been bad." What she avoided saying is that it was lucky Sayaka wasn't here, because then it was almost guaranteed that Kyubey would be nearby.

Furthermore, if Sayaka had gotten to Madoka she would swear everything Homura's been saying had is lie. If that happened it would be impossible to make Madoka believe the danger is real. It would not even be entirely Sayaka's fault, either. At this point in the timeline she was still blissfully ignorant of what Kyubey really was, and what it actually meant to make a contract with him.

Homura put her hand on the top of Madoka's head, which sunk down at the touch. Madoka was shorter than her, and looked up through the tops of her sad innocent eyes. "I know it's hard to perceive danger from something you have never seen, and have very little knowledge of, but I promise you the danger is real. Once Kyubey gets a hold of you he doesn't let go until he gets what he wants." Homura took a moment, remembering all those past lives that had ended so tragically "If that happened... Everything I did up until now will have been for nothing. I know you hate this, but it's far better than the alternative."

Madoka didn't seem to have anything to say to this, but Homura hoped she was getting through to her. Finally, she pulled the chain a little to snap the distant Madoka into motion. "Well then, shall we?" Madoka looked at her with some trace of resentment, but ultimately she just nodded, agreeing to come, and allowed herself to be led by the leash.

Even if Madoka was still skeptical on the reasons, Homura thought she had at least finally gotten the point across to stop resisting. Maybe Madoka's little escape tonight was a blessing in disguise. Now that she knew simply leaving the hotel room wasn't enough to get away, maybe she would realize how pointless it is to even try. _"It doesn't matter where you go, Madoka, I can find you, and when I do all I have to do is stop time and take you right back."_ That is what she had said, and now more than ever Madoka should be understanding the truth of that statement.

However, Madoka did still have one more trick up her sleeve (or down her skirt, to be more precise). As Homura led her through the house, Madoka very slowly snuck two fingers into her skirt. When Homura's back was turned she got her fingertips on the ribbon she had hidden there and pulled it out very slowly, being careful not to make any sudden movements. Once out, she let it fall through her fingers and drop to the ground, right out in plain sight where Sayaka would see it when she got home. It might not lead to anything, but she just wanted Sayaka to know that she had been here, and that she was still alive and trying to escape.

She watched Homura's back as she led her through the house and thought, _Please don't notice!_

At the front door, Homura stopped with her hand on the knob. Her head turned, and Madoka's heart began to race. Was Homura looking at her? Or was she looking past her? It was dark in the house, but the ribbon was on the ground and in plain sight. "No more tricks, okay?" said Homura. There was a sense of amusement in her voice, the corner of her lip rose in a half smile. What did that mean? Did she already know? Was she just messing with her?

Madoka tried her best to hide her guilty conscious, but it was a struggle to keep herself from glancing backwards to see just where the ribbon had landed. Homura stared into her for a while before saying, "I'm going to stop time until we get out of the neighborhood. I'll resume time when we are in an area less familiar to you. Just like before, I don't like moving slow while my magic is being used, so keep the pace up. Alright?" When Madoka didn't respond right away Homura yanked on the chain, forcing her to step forward. " _Alright?_ " she said again, a bit more assertively.

"Y-yes!" Madoka squeaked out nervously.

Homura's eyes narrowed, and that same smile touched the corners of her lips. The gears turned, and she led Madoka out the front door.

 **II**

 _"Why is this happening?"_ Madoka thought to herself.

There was still a light rainfall but the small beads of water just hung in the air, frozen in time. She stomped through a puddle and it came to life in a splash, then froze again at the climax of its fountain. Madoka looked back at this phenomenon and took in how beautiful it was, thinking it looked like a flower made of blue crystal. Her pace slowed when she did this, and she was instantly jerked forward by the chain. Homura just glanced back at her, and continued as she was.

Homura wasn't going as fast as she was the other day when they first had to do this, but she was still moving at a brisk pace. If Madoka kept in pace with her she was able to forget about the collar around her neck for a while. Every now and then, though, she would fall behind just a bit and get tugged forward. She wanted to scream when this happened, but her lips would just drop into a frown and her face would redden as she put a hand to the collar and forced herself to move quicker.

They moved away from the residential area, until they started seeing nothing but businesses. Then, after a while, the businesses gave way to another type of architecture that made Madoka feel very uncomfortable. She looked around at the boarded up windows and trash littered streets nervously. Then Homura slowed down to a walk and stopped.

Madoka's hands balled together under her chin as her wide uneasy eyes looked around this dark and desolate place. She then looked to Homura, wondering why they had stopped.

"I'm going to resume time here. These streets are pretty much abandoned, so I think we will be able to avoid being seen. Even if we _are_ seen, the kind of people who live here aren't exactly the kind that would file a police report. So I'm not too worried about it."

"H-Homura! Don't you realize where we are?" Madoka begged, "Two girls can't just walk through this part of town alone! L-let's go another way!"

Homura just gave one of her subtle half smiles. "You are right, it would be pretty dangerous for two ordinary girls, but I'm a Magical Girl. We will be fine."

Madoka glanced around anxiously. She had never been to a place like this, but she had seen these kind of things on TV shows and she knew it was the type of place you were suppose to avoid.

"Don't worry. I still don't want you to be seen, so if I notice anyone down the street, or cars coming by, I'll just stop time again. We are perfectly safe, I just need to try and conserve some of my magic. Okay?"

Madoka didn't have much say on the matter, so she just kept quiet. Homura could see the concern in her eyes, and reached a hand over to her. She touched the side of her face and made the nervous pinette look her in the eyes. Homura gave her as warm of a smile as she could manage and said, "You are safe. As long as I am here nothing is going to hurt you." The gears spun, and the world returned to normal. Madoka instantly felt light raindrops splashing her face, and the ambient sounds of the city returned to normal.

Madoka pulled away from Homura's touch, and looked around again. She supposed as long as Homura could stop time at any moment there really was nothing to be afraid of. She looked back to her captor and nodded her head. Homura smiled and said, "Okay."

They continued on at a normal pace. Madoka, nervously glancing into every alley and behind every corner. She had started sticking very close to Homura's side without noticing she was doing it. Through the corners of her eyes, Homura took note of this, and she started to blush. A stray cat suddenly hissed at them, breaking the silence, and Madoka jumped, grabbing onto Homura's arm and letting out a small scared scream. Embarrassed by what she had done, Madoka quickly let go and looked away with a clear blush on her own face as well. It made Homura smile, and her heart jumped, thinking how cute that was.

"H-how did we end up here anyway?" Madoka asked, trying to draw attention away it.

It took a moment for Homura to realize what she was talking about. "When you left you went to the park, right? Then you started heading south. The park is actually to the west, so it was a pretty long detour you took. The way we are going now cuts right through the bottom of the city. It's good you didn't come this way when you were alone, it would have been quite dangerous for you, especially at night." Madoka still walked rather close to Homura's side, now fully conscious that she was doing it, but she couldn't help herself. Homura could not help but notice, and it filled her with a warm feeling. Although, she did feel bad that Madoka was so scared, and decided to try distracting her.

"I bought some manga while I was out," said Homura. "That way we will have more to do than just cards and watching TV once we get back. I could probably grab some video games as well next time I go out." Madoka didn't say anything back, so Homura continued. "There's this one manga, I've already read it, but I think you will like it." Actually, she didn't just _think_ Madoka would like it, she already knew for a fact, from past lives, that Madoka would _love_ it. "It's about this high school girl who has a special power locked inside her. There's an organization who wants to kidnap her, but there is this secret agent character posing as a high school student who acts as her bodyguard. Thing is, he has to keep his identity secret from her, and she is completely clueless about all the battles and assassination attempts that are constantly happening right over her shoulder. It's pretty funny, I am sure you will enjoy it."

"Homura... You never gave me a straight answer before…" Madoka stopped walking, and waited for Homura to look her in the eyes. "How long are you planning to keep me like this?" Her voice was soft, not confrontational, but Homura wasn't sure how to respond. "Just tell me!" Madoka pressed on, still with that soft voice. "I promise I won't freak out or anything, I just _have_ to know what you're planning… and… how long this is going to last."

"Three years, at least," said Homura, as casually as possible. "You will no longer be eligible to become a Magical Girl, and Kyubey will leave you alone."

"I-I see..." Madoka kept her word, and didn't freak out, but there was a deep and sudden sadness when she spoke those words.

"It won't be so bad," Homura said "We'll move out of the hotel within a month. It gets busier in the summer, so it's only temporary. I'm thinking somewhere outside the city. Somewhere that you can have much more comfortable living arrangements. Maybe, when I feel like I can trust you more, we can even start going outside once in awhile. You can write your family letters as often as you like, of course I'll need to read them first. You can send your little brother presents on his birthday, just tell me what you would like to send and I'll get it for you. Maybe I can even come up with a way to allow you to make phone calls, but you'll have to be really good about not giving anything away, or that would have to stop... Madoka?" Homura stopped when she realized Madoka had started crying. It wasn't loud, but the tears were flowing with an occasional sniffle, and her body seemed distressed.

"Madoka..." Homura put her hands on Madoka's shoulders, the leash still held in her right hand with the chain connected to the pink spiked collar around her neck. At least she was allowing herself to be touched this time. "I know this isn't the life you want, but this is the best I can do for you."

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "I told you I wouldn't freak out, but..."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Homura looked around. "We should probably keep moving, though."

They continued walking through the run down streets at the south of the city. On a rare occasion a car would pass and Homura would stop time until they were out of sight. At another point, she spotted a group of people sitting around on the steps outside a dilapidated apartment building, and she stopped time again until they were passed them.

Madoka had seemed to calm down, realizing that she was safe as long as Homura could use her magic. She let out a long yawn, suddenly realizing how tired she was. She was tired even back in the hotel before the escape, but the excitement of the night had kept her from noticing. Now that it was well passed midnight, and things felt as though they were calming down, the tiredness was creeping back on her in full force.

"It won't be long," said Homura, still leading the way. "Like I said, this is the fastest route anyway, so..." Madoka nodded, and then walked right into Homura's back when Homura stopped suddenly. Madoka looked up, confused, Homura's eyes were darting all around and she pulled out her SoulGem. Madoka looked at the gem curiously; Homura had told her about SoulGems but she had not actually seen one yet. It was a pretty little jewel for the most part, but there was a black fog floating around in the middle of it. Homura held it up and it started to pulsate with rainbow light. Homura looked all around, waving it through the air like someone trying to catch a signal on their cell phone. "No... Not now!" Homura said under her breath.

"Homura? What's the matter?" Madoka asked, growing deeply concerned.

Homura's eyes narrowed as she lowered the SoulGem. "There is a witch nearby."

 **III**

Kyoko woke from her slumber. She rubbed her fingers into her tired eyes, then opened them and looked toward the boarded up window. There was no light coming through the cracks, so she figured it must have still been night. Judging by how tired she was, she guessed it was at least a few more hours before daylight. However, she had that certain feeling creeping into her heart that wouldn't let her just go to sleep. It was like there was some force out there, pushing against her and tearing into her soul. Every Magical Girl has had this feeling before, and would know what it meant: _a witch_.

She grabbed her SoulGem and fed some power into it. It started pulsing wildly. The witch wasn't just out there, it was close... _Really_ close! She stood up and let her magic cover her in light as she transformed into her Magical Girl attire. Her SoulGem took the form of a diamond and attached itself to her clothing, between her breasts.

"Guess there's no sleeping with all that going on," she said to herself, reluctantly. _Oh well_ , she thought, _maybe I can make a detour and find something to eat when I'm done._

She held out her hand, and with a flash of light her spear appeared. She raised it over her head, and spun it around, slashing an X into the boarded up window as it made its rotations. Then she tightened her grip, the spear stopped spinning and held firm in her hands, ready to lunge. Her feet kicked off the ground and she speared through the window, the boards being blown to splinters as if a bomb had just gone off as she crashed through.

She stood on the window sill, one hand grabbing the wall from inside, the rest of her body hanging outside as she looked up and down the street with her spear held loosely in her free hand. She looked up, and saw there were plenty more windowsills to grab onto, so with a magic enhanced pull of her arm, she jumped from story to story, scaling up the wall at a speed defiant of gravity.

Once on the roof, she started running in the direction from which she could feel the witch's presence. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, using her spear as a vaulting pole when needed, until she knew that she was very close. She walked the edge of the building and looked down. Her dress and her long crimson red ponytail blowing in the wind as she searched.

At the center of a beat up old basketball court with high metal fences, she saw it. There was a distortion hanging in the air, it could almost be described as heat waves, except with more color. She grinned and prepared to jump down, but then she saw something else.

From around a corner came two girls. One with pink hair, nervously twitching her hands together and clinging to the other girls back, and... and... was that a leash? Kyoko ducked down behind the ledge and peeked over so she wouldn't be seen... It most certainly was. The pink haired girl was collared and chained, being led around by the black haired girl who, based on the clothing she wore, was clearly another Magical Girl.

"Well now, this is certainly interesting." Kyoko smiled a sharp toothed grin. "Looks like I found Kyubey's so called, _anomaly_."


	17. I'm right here

**Chapter 17**

 **I**

"Homura, are you sure this is okay?" Madoka asked, her hands clung to the sleeve of Homura's dress.

"I won't tell you it's not dangerous, but as long as I'm here you will be fine." They stood in front of the entrance to the labyrinth. Normally, regular humans wouldn't be able to see it, but since Madoka had strong potential to become a Magical Girl she saw it just as clearly as Homura. It was a translucent orb floating in the air, turning slowly with strings of dark colors waving around inside like heat waves. Madoka stared into it, her heart sinking with dread. She could swear she could hear it speaking to her, in a small sadistic whispering voice. She didn't understand this voice as actual words, it was more like the voice was conveying raw emotions to her, emotions of anger, misery, and despair.

"Madoka, I'll be right here with you the entire time. Even if something happens, and you can't see me, just know that I'm right by your side." Homura looked down at her and saw the raw terror in her eyes. The labyrinth let out a burst of pressure, and its distorted coloring rippled. On the surface it felt like there was a gust of wind, and it blew their hair and clothing accordingly. Madoka felt this pressure on a deeper level as well, though. She felt like the wind was blowing right under her skin, tightening around her muscles, and freezing her bones. She clung to Homura's arm even tighter.

"The witch will most likely try and mess with your head while we're in there. Whatever it shows you, what ever it says to you, just know that none of that is real. These are creatures that prey on the negative emotions of humans. Whatever bad feelings you hold in your heart will be amplified. Just think of it as a dream, or a nightmare, and when I'm done defeating the creature that lives inside you will wake up and everything will be fine." Homura looked at her and gave her a reassuring nod. Then with a soft touch, pushed her away and smiled warmly. "I'll need some space while I'm fighting." Madoka released her hands from Homura's dress, almost reluctantly.

Homura led the way into the labyrinth. Its ripples pulsated wildly at her touch, and with a flash of light it seemed to swallow her up. Madoka watched with wide eyes as the light got brighter, and then dimmed until it was almost gone. Homura had completely disappeared but the light still focused around the chain that now seemed to just hang in the air. Somewhere, on the other side of the portal, Homura yanked the chain forward and pulled Madoka in after her.

 **II**

Each step they took sounded off with an echoing splash. They ran down a dark corridor, Homura leading the way with Madoka close behind. Homura was moving faster than she ever had before, and Madoka struggled to keep up. She felt the collar constantly tugging on her neck, and she slipped her fingers under it to relieve some of the pressure.

They were in a tunnel, the ground covered in shallow green water, nothing but darkness on all sides except for a blue bead of light somewhere far in the distance. Madoka could hear noises coming from the dark, it sounded like squeaking, like sounds small animals would make. The squeaking got louder and louder until it sounded like there were hundreds of them. As it got louder, it started to sound more and more like laughter instead.

Homura stopped suddenly with an outstretched arm, signaling Madoka to stay back. She reached under her shield and pulled out a gun and started firing shots into the darkness. Each shot lit the tunnel with a flash, and Madoka could see the walls were covered with distorted evil grinning faces drawn onto the wall as if with crayons. With each flash Madoka could see the faces changed slightly, and she realized they were moving — in spite of being drawings they could move!

Homura stopped shooting and the tunnel went completely black again. Behind the laughter Madoka could hear the sound of Homura's gun reloading. The magazine dropped with a splash, and with a series of clicks and slides a new magazine was loaded into place. Homura and Madoka were standing still, but Madoka could hear splashing footfall somewhere in the distance. Something was running towards them!

Homura started firing into the darkness once again. With each flash Madoka could see creatures that took the shape of men, but were hunched over with long hanging arms. They didn't have faces; where their faces should be there was nothing but rippling distorted colors. With a series of shots, each of their bodies fell, one by one, splashing against the shallow water in the tunnel. Madoka then felt the collar tugging her forward again as Homura started to move. She quickly got her own legs moving to try to keep up.

"Are you okay?" Homura asked, still running.

"Y-yeah!"

They continued through the tunnel, the light at the end getting closer and closer, and brighter and brighter. As the light got brighter, the squeaking laugher started to disappear, although it could still be heard as an echo from further back. Now they could see much more clearly, the walls of the tunnel were visible and Madoka could see that there were no more faces drawn on them. Homura slowed her pace to a walk and started to proceed with caution. "The witch is probably at the end of this tunnel. As long as I'm fighting it, it shouldn't pay any attention to you. If it does, I'll just stop time and move you to safety, so don't be too scared." Homura stopped and looked at her. "I have seen you face these creatures before, and you have always done so bravely, so I am sure you will be alright."

Homura could see the fear still deeply rooted in Madoka's face, although it seemed that her words had given Madoka at least some strength. She shook some of the fear away and tightened her face up boldly.

"Homura... did-"

"GET DOWN!"

Water erupted in vertical fountains on all sides of them, and more of those long armed creatures rose from under the slime covered floor. They descended upon Homura with wide, sharp toothed smiles and drooling tongues.

Homura managed to push Madoka away. She let go of the chain, and Madoka fell to the ground, splashing in the slime. She watched the creatures fall down upon Homura. Homura spun away from them and fired out shot after shot from between their group. One clean shot to the face sent one of them falling back and disappearing into the slime where it landed.

Madoka put her hands on the ground, trying to get herself back to her feet, but then something rose from out of the slime: a green, boil ridden hand which grabbed onto her wrist! She screamed, "HOMURA!" More hands rose up and grabbed onto her. They grabbed her arms and her legs, and one of them even grabbed the collar around her neck.

"Madoka!" Homura screamed, she kicked one of the creatures out of the way and spun the gears on her shield. She dove toward Madoka with an outstretched hand — but it was too late!

Just before time stopped, the hands pulled Madoka under. Homura found herself on her hands and knees, staring at her own reflection on a floor covered with sticky green slime. "NO!"

 **III**

 _"Where... am I?"_

Everything was dark, she couldn't so much as see her hand in front of her face. She just sat alone in the dark, curling her body in a tight ball, not knowing what else she could do to protect herself.

Then she could hear whispering. It started as one or two really low voices, but slowly escalated as more and more voices joined in until it was like an entire theater full of people. She couldn't make out any of the words, but she knew she heard some of them laughing. _"Help me,"_ she whispered to herself, curling up into a ball. _"Someone please help me."_

Then, with a _'sschunk'_ a bright spotlight came on. That same sound came again and again, as more spot lights turned themselves on. They were far overhead and all of them focused on Madoka.

She peeked from behind her hands, and realized she was in a cage. Its steel bars rose high into the sky, twisting and becoming more and more misshapen as they disappeared into the mist of distance above. Then the laughing started again, starting out as low animal squeaks until it rose into a loud mocking laughter. Madoka could see silhouettes of small people walking towards her from out of the fog that surrounded the cage.

Madoka screamed, and scooted as far to the back of the cage as she could. She began to curl into the fetal position once again, but as she did this she realized something: She was naked! She looked down at her own body, screaming in horror as she quickly crossed her legs and covered her arms over her chest. The silhouettes got closer and closer, until she could start to make out their features.

They had the same faces as the drawings that were on the sewer walls, their smiles and grins were drawn with crayons. Most of them held either torches or pitchforks, others just pointed at her with clawed hands and disdainful expressions. Madoka, still screaming, closed her eyes and tried to just wish all this away. She tried to tell herself that this couldn't be real, it was a nightmare — it had to be! She just needed to wake up and...

She jumped when she felt something grab her arm from behind. She pulled away and realized an identical group of those nightmarish creatures had been approaching her from behind. This group was closer, and were already at the bars, reaching their hands inside the cage and trying to grab her.

She scooted back to the other side of the cage in such a blind panic she failed to even cover her exposed body. Once there, she realized the original group had gotten just as close and were now approaching the cage and reaching their arms in as well. Laughing and grinning and pointing. It wasn't just the front and back, all sides of the cage were now covered by them!

Madoka repositioned herself at the dead center of the cage, where she was just out of reach of the clawing hands that were trying to grab her. She screamed, and batted some of the hands away. She was waving her arms in a blind flurry of panic. If she stayed right in the center of the cage, it seemed they couldn't reach her. Still, that did little to ease her terror, she felt like her mind was going numb with it.

Without thinking why she did it, her hand reached to her neck where her collar should be: and she could feel it, it was there. She traced her hand around, and she felt the chain as well. She could feel it in her hand, and she held it up, but she couldn't actually see it. It was invisible... but what could that mean?

She was snapped out of this thought when one of the hands managed to grab her hair. She screamed and batted her arms at it, but its grip was tight, and pulled her in. More and more hands grabbed onto her as she was dragged into their clutches. Another scream of terror as she was pulled closer to their wicked grinning faces.

With one big thrust of effort, she snapped away, and she felt pain on her scalp as a lock of hair was pulled from her head. The force caused her to fall back on the other side, and again she was fighting the hands until she got herself centered in the cage once more.

" _Save me! Someone please save me!"_ she whimpered, trying her best to keep her eyes on all sides of herself and keep away from their hands. She reached back to the invisible collar around her neck. This collar was her connection to Homura. Homura had let go and that's why she lost her. She looked up to the sky, looking at the high steel bars that twisted and intertwined within themselves like vines of ivy. She screamed: "Homura! Help me! Please! Come back!"

Then, she felt that familiar tug against her neck, and her heart leaped in elation.

 **IV**

Homura appeared in the air just above her, as if she had fallen in from some invisible door that existed in mid air. In one hand she held the other end of the chain, in the other hand a light machine gun. Her high heeled shoes landed on the ground with a click. Madoka grabbed onto her leg, wrapping both arms tightly around it, and pushing her face against the soft flesh of Homura's thigh.

Homura dropped the chain, and stationed the machine gun in both arms as she opened fire. She sprayed the gun back and forth, driving back the crowd with each pass.

Madoka, naked and trembling, still holding on tightly, watched with wide red eyes, peaking out from behind Homura's leg. She was terrified by the pure surreality of where she was; seeing things that couldn't possibly exist, being _attacked_ by creatures that couldn't possibly be. However, she no longer feared for her life, now that Homura was back she couldn't get hurt: She felt safe.

"They keep coming," Homura said as she loaded a fresh clip into her gun and started opening fire once again. She was moving in full circles now, trying to keep the crowd held back as best she could. Madoka was still on her knees and clinging to her, but trying her best not to disrupt her movement. "We need a way out of the cage."

Madoka looked around and spotted something. It hadn't been there before, but it seemed simply thinking about it was enough to make it appear. On the left side of the cage there was a door made of metal bars, with a cartoonishly large padlock keeping it shut. "Over there!" Madoka yelled to be heard over Homura's gunfire. Homura turned, and saw it, and started focusing all of her fire on the lock. Bullets sprayed the lock, but richoteted right off, barely seeming to make any difference.

"Damn it! No good!" Homura grunted as she worked on loading a fresh clip.

Madoka looked past the crowd, and she thought she could see something: something _RED_! It was far behind the crowd, slowly revealing itself out of the fog as it ran. _"Is that the witch"?_ Madoka thought, with horror. If these monsters were just its familiars, how awful was the actual witch going to be?

As it got closer and closer, however, Madoka realized it couldn't be a witch: It was a _girl!_


	18. Does it hurt?

**Chapter 18**

 **I**

Kyoko slid on her heels, forcing herself to a stop as she got closer to the cage and saw what was inside. The black haired Magical Girl was inside firing away with a machine gun, her little pet girl from earlier was hugging onto her leg and... and... she was totally naked! Kyoko turned her head away, scratching the side of her nose with a bit of blush creeping in on her face. "And here I thought I saw every weird ass thing these labyrinths had to offer." She shook it off and laughed, then drove the blunt end of her spear into the ground.

The black haired girl shot her a look. "Break the lock! I'll cut you a path!" Kyoko didn't seem very interested in going along with this plan. She let out an exaggerated yawn to signal her disinterest of the situation, and shrugged with a mocking grin.

She took another look at the pet girl. She was peeking out from behind her master's leg, using it to keep her body hidden, and all Kyoko could really see from this angle was an immodest amount of skin. The girl's face was bright red from embarrassment, though she looked at Kyoko with pleading eyes, begging for help. They held eye contact for only a moment before the girl got too embarrassed and her eyes shot away.

"Kyoko! Quit messing around!" The Magical Girl yelled over to her.

"Hey! How the hell do you know my name!" Kyoko yelled back, raising a fist. A few familiars had stumbled their way over to her, so she picked up her spear and sliced their heads off with one quick slash, then retook her posture.

"Does it matter?" the Magical Girl called back. She fired another burst into the familiars, then started reloading. "You can have the GriefSeed! Just help us out!"

"Yeah right, so you can just shoot me in the back while I'm distracted by the witch? I don't think so! I think the two of you are just fine where you are!" She pulled her spear back up to rest it over her shoulder. As she began to turn away, she looked back for just another moment to flash one of her sharp toothed grins. "Don't worry, the labyrinth will disappear when I'm done with the witch. Then you and your girlfriend can get back to playing your kinky little games in private!"

Suddenly, there was a large explosion from within the cage, and the grin fell off her face. Most of the familiars fell back from the force of the shockwave, the ones who were centered around the blast were blown apart. The explosion was focused around the door in front of the cage, but it was large enough that the two inmates inside were completely lost in the flames!

Her eyes widened and a wave of guilt shot through her body. "Shit!" she screamed and without thinking she ran toward the cage.

When she had turned her back on them she didn't think that they were actually going to end up dying! She cursed herself over and over, wishing she had just helped them out. She might not know them, or owe them anything, but she didn't want to be responsible for two people dying right in front of her! She slashed at a few more familiars who got in her way as she approached.

There was still a heavy layer of smoke floating in the air. The bars around where the lock had been were broken and twisted with more thin lines of smoke rising away from them. She put her hand around one of the bars to pull it open, but it was so hot it burned her and she let go right away. "Damn it!" she yelled as she shook the pain away. She watched the inside of the cage with wide anticipating eyes, trying to look through the smoke to see what had become of them.

The smoke started to dissipate, and she could see a single silhouette crouched down in the back corner. Which one was it? And was she alive or dead? Kyoko couldn't tell yet.

She looked around and noticed all the familiars were starting to crawl away from the cage, completely losing interest in the three of them. That was bad, as it usually meant the witch was on its way. "Hey!" Kyoko called into the cage, "You alive or what?" The smoke cleared enough that she could see it was the Magical Girl, but where was the other one? She blinked and realized the pet girl was cradled underneath her owner. She had protected her from the blast with her own body.

The Magical Girl lifted her head and looked back at Kyoko with narrow angry eyes. The clothing on her back had been burned away, and Kyoko could see burns and seared flesh all along her shoulders and her back. "Hey!" Kyoko grinned awkwardly, with one hand scratching the back of her head. "You made it! Your friend alright?" The pink haired girl peeked over her master's shoulder, her face was the brightest shade of red Kyoko had ever seen on someone before, but she supposed having someone laying on top of you while you're totally nude could have that effect on a girl.

"I-I'm ok!" she said in a small meek voice. Then the air all around the labyrinth became wavy, and the bars of the cage, along with the familiars and everything else in sight started to become translucent and disappear.

 **II**

Before they knew it, the three of them were back in the tunnel that they had started in, except there was much more light now. They were just a few steps away from the threshold at the end, which was now emitting a powerful glow of blue light.

Homura slowly pulled herself back to her feet, and Madoka remained on the ground right under her. As Homura turned to face Kyoko, Madoka could see the damage that had been done to her back. "Homura! You're hurt!" she said with deep concern in her voice. Then, thinking she was still nude and laying bare for the two of them to see, she shrieked and crossed her arms and legs over her body. A moment later she realized the clothing was back to normal and let out a sigh of relief. She pushed herself back up onto her own feet and put a hand on Homura's shoulder, avoiding the burns, and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, with a hard voice. "This is nothing."

"Even if you say that... it looks really bad! We need to get you to a hospital!" Homura pulled away from Madoka's touch and started walking towards Kyoko, her eyes dark and murderous. "H-Homura!"

She reached under her shield and produced a handgun, which she then lifted and pointed right at the spear wielding Magical Girl. Kyoko tensed up, firming her grip on her own weapon and taking a battle ready stance.

"That was really low, Kyoko," said Homura, her voice going completely cold. "Even for someone like you."

"What the hell? Someone like me? You say that like we know each other!" She clicked her teeth. "Besides, can you blame me? Would you really risk your neck for a total stranger like that if you were in my position?" Homura was about to argue that she would; but, her past lives came back to haunt her. She remembered the many times that she had not only turned her back on strangers but she had turned her back on some of her closest friends. This thought weakened her resolve, and the gun began to lower.

Kyoko, ever the opportunist, saw this and took full advantage of being given an opening to strike. She leaped forward with her spear, slashing at the opposing Magical Girl. When the spear was just inches from hitting its target, however, Homura disappeared and the spear simply swooshed through thin air. Next thing Kyoko knew, she felt the cold steel of a gun's barrel pushing into the back of her head.

"Nice trick," said Kyoko. "Pretty handy, but let me give you a little... _tip_!" With a quick twist of her wrist her spear spun around and crashed into Homura's legs with the blunt end, and Kyoko took a dive out of the way of her gun. She quickly spun back around and made another downward slash, leading with the bladed end of her spear, looking to fillet the girl who had just been knocked to the floor.

Once again, however, she disappeared just before contact and Kyoko's spear simply slashed through the water that lined the floor. She quickly jumped back and looked for her opponent as she brought her spear to a defencive position. Homura was now standing a few yards away from her, staring down the sight of her gun and they were right back to where they started.

"Stop it!" Madoka yelled, and quickly ran in between them. She stood in front of Homura, with her back to Kyoko, and spread her arms out wide to act like a shield. "Please stop fighting! You should be on the same side!"

Homura spoke sternly as her thumb flipped the hammer back on her weapon, "Move out of the way, Madoka."

"No!" she yelled, her face scrunched up in that stubborn expression that Homura knew all too well. "Just look at yourself! You're in no condition to fight with an injury like that! If you kill her who will there be to take down the witch?" Madoka kept the eye contact with Homura a moment longer, Homura just stared back, not letting her face reveal any emotion.

"It doesn't matter," said Homura. "I was willing to give up the GriefSeed before, but now that I have this injury I'm going to need it for myself. I can't afford to let her have it, understand? Now move!"

Madoka gave her one of those narrow eyed pouts and turned around. She approached Kyoko, her face the perfect picture of innocence. "Kyoko?" she spoke softly, "Is that your name?" Kyoko just nodded and watched the pink girl suspiciously. "I know you're not a bad person." She stepped even closer, and Kyoko flinched back. Unexpectedly, Madoka grabbed onto her hand. Kyoko tried to pull away but Madoka held on firmly, yet it was with a soft enough touch that Kyoko didn't feel right about using too much strength to force herself away.

Madoka smiled. "You were worried about us when you thought we were hurt, so I know you're good! So, could you please go defeat the witch, and when you're done can you please share the GriefSeed with Homura? She was hurt really badly and she needs it!"

"Listen, chick," Kyoko said, her eyes shifting away. "You ain't a Magical Girl so you don't understand how these things work. We don't just share our GriefSeeds like that." That sharp grin hit her face once again. "Hell, I would actually prefer it if _Smiles_ over there actually did die. Less competition, you get it?" She pulled her hand away more forcibly this time, causing Madoka to stumble from the sudden force. "So get the hell away from me! You're in over your head, little girl!" She gave the pink girl one of the evilest most menacing looks she could muster, but it quickly faded away when she saw the girl just continued to stare at her with those wide stubborn eyes.

"What if it was someone _you_ cared about that was in trouble? If you knew there was someone who could help them, how would you feel if they just did nothing! There's no way you're that cold! I know you're not! So..." Her face tensed up, "So stop with the act!"

Kyoko flinched back, putting up an arm as if to defend herself from the words. She looked past Madoka and switched her sight to Homura with an expression that almost seemed to be asking for help. She shook herself out of it and regained her posture. "Whatever!" she yelled, and she began walking at a steady pace and moved right past Madoka. Madoka turned and watched her go. As Kyoko got closer to Homura they both seemed to tense up, but Kyoko said, "Go ahead and heal yourself, I'll let you purify your gem a bit, but just enough to keep you going. Got it? Then I get the rest." Homura nodded. "And if we ever meet like this again, I get first dibs next time. No complaining!"

"Alright, deal," Homura said, half of a smile creeping onto her face.

"Besides, you did clear out most of the familiars, so I suppose you are entitled to some portion of the reward." With that, Kyoko continued on, and stepped into the blue light at the end of the tunnel.

 **III**

"Does it hurt?" Madoka asked. She had taken off the collar and wrapped the chain around it, and now had it folded neatly in her hands.

"Not really," said Homura, although she had let out a pained grunt as she kneeled down. She held her SoulGem in the palm of her hand and its soft glow started getting brighter. Madoka looked at her wounded back, and saw that there were small strings of rainbow coloring weaving around under her skin, focusing near the wound. "Us Magical Girls have a higher tolerance for pain than ordinary people." She looked at Madoka and gave one of her half smiles. "We can take a lot." Madoka just nodded and watched as she leaned her back against the side of the tunnel.

"The explosion in the cage, you caused that right?"

"I needed a way to blow that cage door down... honestly I wasn't expecting to take that much damage myself, guess I underestimated my little homemade bomb just a little." Her voice was heavy and stressed, although she said she was fine, Madoka could tell she was in pain. Madoka frowned at her, worried that it really was more serious than she was letting on.

"You should go to a hospital," she said.

"No need," Homura said again. "Honestly, there is nothing they could do for me that my magic can't do ten times better. So it's pointless. Don't worry, I know it looks bad but this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me. I'll be fine."

Madoka's eyes widened at the revelation. This is the kind of thing Magical Girls have to go through? Then, she thought about Kyoko on the other side of the threshold, and she worried that she was in danger. Occasionally the blue light at the end would pulsate and become brighter for a few moments. They could feel a waves of pressure hitting them, just like when they were first standing outside the portal before coming inside the labyrinth.

"Is Kyoko going to be alright fighting that thing by herself?" Madoka asked.

"Her? Yeah, she'll be fine."

"Did you know her before? In one of your... _past lives?_ "

Homura nodded.

"Were you friends?"

"You could call it that. Really, we were more like allies, we would team up whenever we had a common goal."

Madoka watched the pulsating blue light. "She's really a nice person, right?"

Homura shrugged. "Depends." Madoka looked back to Homura, she could see the wound was closing up. The dark red of exposed flesh was hardening, and around the edges the second degree burns were actually starting to disappear. She noticed that Homura's uniform was also slowly stitching itself back together, using those same strings of colorful light that traveled throughout her body while she healed.

There was another pulse from the threshold and the blue light became brighter than it ever had before. Madoka shrank away from it and shielded her eyes, Homura just watched with a placid expression. "What is that?" Madoka asked, concern in her voice. "Is Kyoko alright?"

"She's fine," Homura answered. "She just won." Then, as if she had taken a queue from Homura, Kyoko appeared from out of the blue light, her shadow stretching far down the tunnel. There were small cuts and scratches all over her arms and legs, her clothing was torn in a few places and there was a somewhat more serious wound on her forehead that had blood dripping over her eye.

"Jeez, that one was a pain in the ass." She hoisted up her spear to rest it over her shoulder. "You seriously owe me one." The labyrinth became wavy again, just as it had back when the cage disappeared. Next thing they knew, the walls of the tunnel were melting away and they were once again standing in that run down basketball court.

Kyoko tossed something over to Homura, and Homura reached her arm up and snatched it out of the air. "There, just like I said, don't use all of it," Kyoko warned her.

Homura nodded and then pressed the GriefSeed against her SoulGem. Madoka watched as the cloudiness from the SoulGem started to get pulled into the GriefSeed which grew darker and darker from the process. She was glad it seemed Homura was going to be alright, but she noticed all the cuts and scratches on Kyoko, as well as that particularly deep wound on her forehead. "Kyoko, thank you for helping." She bowed her head. "But, are you okay?"

Kyoko clicked her teeth. "Yeah, yeah, I'm perfectly fine. That witch was a real pushover, actually. Its vines just kind of overwhelmed me so I got hit a few times, but none of them did any real damage. Anyway, it's alright as long as _little miss sunshine_ over there doesn't use up too much of my GriefSeed." Kyoko watched her closely. "Hey, alright, that's enough now!" Homura obeyed and removed the GriefSeed. She looked at it to verify it still had some use and tossed it back to her. Kyoko examined it as well, and seemed satisfied that Homura hadn't used too much. Madoka noted that the clothing on Homura's back had completely stitched itself together, and there was no sign of the wound underneath anymore.

Then, Madoka heard something. She heard a voice inside her head, _"Madoka Kaname."_ She looked around, confused. _"Up here!"_ She looked along the tops of the buildings and spotted two glowing red orbs peeking over the edge of a building. _"We can speak telepathically, just think of whatever you want to say and I can hear it."_ Madoka's heart sank; was this the incubator? As if it could read her thoughts, it answered. _"Well, yes my people are sometimes called incubators, but you can just call me Kyubey!"_

Homura stood up, "Ready to go, Madoka?" she asked. She reached for the chain in Madoka's hands and noticed how she was spacing out. "Are you alright?" Madoka looked back to her, a panicked look creeping onto her face. "Madoka?"

 _"Quickly, Madoka! Tell me where she's been hiding you! I can send Mami Tomoe and Sayaka Miki to rescue you!"_ At the mention of Sayaka's name, Madoka's eyes shot back in the direction the incubator was hiding.

"Sayaka?" she said out loud.

Homura grabbed her by the shoulders. "Why did you say that!?" she demanded, then looked in the direction Madoka was staring off in.

 _"Quickly Madoka! Tell me!"_ But before Madoka could string another thought together, Homura set the gears spinning and stopped time.


	19. I'm not going to allow that

**Chapter 19**

 **I**

"What did he say to you!" Homura demanded. The world had gone back to the eerie windless version of itself that Madoka was starting to become just a little too familiar with. Kyoko stood nearby, frozen in time, with her mouth half open as if she was about to say something. Homura's grip on Madoka's shoulders was tight enough that it was actually starting to hurt, and she had such intensity in her eyes that Madoka shrank away, feeling a little bit afraid.

"N-nothing! Nothing really, but..."

"What did YOU say to HIM?"

"NOTHING!"

Homura let go of her, momentarily freezing her in time, and snatch the collar and chain out of her hands. She locked it back around Madoka's neck, pulling her into the time flow once more. Madoka looked around confused for a moment, before realizing the collar was back on her neck.

"Come on," Homura said, pulling on the chain and starting to lead the way. Madoka stumbled after her. "We are grabbing a few things from the hotel, then we are changing locations."

"I didn't tell him where we are!" Madoka insisted, "I didn't get a chance to say _anything_!"

"Why do I not believe you?" Homura was moving quick enough that the collar was constantly tugging at Madoka neck. Homura was being really mean and not letting her get a word out. Finally, Madoka got mad. She grabbed the chain with both hands and pulled on it with all her strength, snapping it out of Homura's grip. Homura looked back at the now frozen Madoka, and snatched the chain from where it hung in the air. When Madoka unfroze, Homura was giving her a stern scolding look, but Madoka was in a confrontational mood and didn't shrink back.

"He said something about Sayaka! What are you not telling me?"

"It doesn't matter, we need to get moving."

"It _does_ matter! Sayaka is my best friend and if she is involved in all this I need to know!"

Homura just looked at her as if she were irritated, then flung her hair back and started to lead the way again, pulling Madoka along. Madoka hated it when Homura acted like this, and usually she couldn't help but fold under the pressure when Homura was forcing her along. This time it was different though, because she had an idea that Sayaka was in danger and she wouldn't just let it go. She stumbled after Homura for only a few seconds before planting her feet and grabbing onto the chain.

Homura was forced to stop. She looked back, feeling herself running out of patience, and started pulling on the chain even harder, but Madoka wouldn't give in. They ended up playing tug of war, Homura mostly winning because she did manage to pull Madoka a few steps along, but it wasn't enough to be considered any kind of progress. They both grunted and pulled, their eyes locked with each other, neither one willing to back down from the struggle.

Finally Homura stopped, realizing how pointless it was, and so did Madoka. Madoka anxiously awaited what she had to say, or what she would do next. Homura let half a smile creep on her face and she spoke placidly, "Alright, fine. If that's how you want to do this." She held the chain up where Madoka could see it.

"Homura! DON'T!" screamed Madoka, as she sprang in the black haired girl's direction. She almost managed to get a hold of her, but Homura took a single step back, and Madoka felt the very tips of her fingers brush against Homura's long silky hair before the chain dropped from her hand, and Madoka was frozen in time once again.

 **II**

"So what exactly is... the deal with... you two... any..." Kyoko looked around for them, but they were nowhere in sight. They had both been standing right in front of her just a moment ago, but they completely vanished into thin air. She pulled up her spear to rest it over her shoulder as she took a three-sixty look at her surroundings. "Huh, rude much?" she joked to herself and then laughed. "Oh well." When she turned around to continue on her way, who did she see but Kyubey, sitting on his haunches right in front of her and staring at her with his creepy glowing red eyes.

"Looks like they disappeared again," he said.

"Yeah, no kidding, any idea where they went?"

"Not a clue, this is the trouble I've been having for the last two days."

"Well, if I had to take a guess," Kyoko mused, as she waved a finger around in the air. "They went..." She pointed. "That'a way." And she started walking.

"You're going after them?" Kyubey asked, he got up and started paddling along besides her with his small soft steps.

"Yeah, I think I want to know more about this little anomaly of yours. You know, keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"Which is she to you?"

"Haven't quite figured that part out yet."

"What are you going to do if you _do_ find her?"

"Haven't figured that out either. For now, I'm probably just going to observe... but..." She stopped, Kyubey followed her queue and stopped as well. "Sorry, but if I do find them, I don't think she wants you around, so..." She grinned. "You're kind of in the way." She suddenly spun the spear around in her hands. The stick end caught Kyubey right under the chin and putted him up into the air. His face was void of expression as his rag like body rose up into striking distance. Kyoko spun her spear around again, then tightened her grip and swung it like a baseball bat. She struck Kyubey's limp body with a perfect hit using the flat side of the blade. She caught eye contact with him at the midpoint of the swing, his indifferent little smile remained unchanged as she followed through and sent him soaring over the building tops. She put a hand over her eyes as if to shield herself from sunlight, and watched as his small rag-doll body disappeared out of sight. "Yup, that's a homerun." She laughed, clearly amused with herself, and continued on her way.

She didn't have much to go on, but she imagined they were somewhere in the center part of the city. Her reasoning for this was based off a lot of guesswork, but it was as follows: Madoka is friends with the rookie, and the rookie is allied with Mami, which means they all probably go to Mitakihara Middle School. If that's the case, then Madoka and the rookie likely live in the suburbs just south of the city. She wasn't one hundred percent sure, but she thought they were traveling north when she first laid eyes on them, so there was a good chance they were coming from the suburbs. Maybe the pet girl had tried to run away and make it back home, only to get caught by her master and led back to where she had been being held captive?

Whatever the case, Kyoko had a good feeling they weren't hiding out in this run down desolate part of the city as she had been. Homura didn't seem like the type to hunker down in an old abandoned crack house. More than that, Kyoko had noted the care that Homura had for her little pet girl. If she was holding her prisoner somewhere it would be somewhere at least moderately comfortable. Since they were heading north, everything south was cut out, so by reason of deduction their hideout was either at the center of the city, or in the rich area far to the north where all the mansions were.

It was an incredibly long walk back to that rich northern part of the city from here, so therefore the center of the city was the most likely place. Now, where in that center part of the city was the question. Well, Kyoko knew from years as an experienced squatter that there were only two feasible options in that part of the city: either a hotel room or an apartment. She figured her chances of actually finding them tonight were pretty slim, but if she moved her own headquarters to that area, and kept an eye open, she figured she would spot the black haired Magical Girl eventually, and be able to stalk her back to her hideout, wherever it was.

As Kyoko walked along, she noticed something on the ground out of the bottom of her eyes. She always had a knack for catching minor details. She kneeled down to check it out: It was blood. It was just a few drops, but she pressed her finger onto it and took a look. It was still wet, it had been dropped there only moments ago. She focused on her SoulGem and it had a strong reaction, signaling the the blood belonged to a Magical Girl. She stood and looked further down the road. She didn't know what it meant, but at least she knew for sure she was heading the right way.

 **III**

Existence without time can be a hard concept to grasp. Although it would be invisible to her; one could almost imagine the struggle taking place right before Kyoko's eyes. As if the Magical Girl and her captive were ghosts, leaving behind small hints and clues of their existence in the physical world. Even though they themselves existed somewhere between time and space where they could not be seen, heard, or touched.

From Madoka's point of view: Simultaneous with Homura dropping the chain she felt her arms being forced behind her back. This wasn't a new experience for her, and she didn't have the same confusion of what was happening as she did before, but all the same, she was powerless to resist it. Breaking away only meant freezing herself for her captors, making it that much easier for the Magical Girl to continue to do as she pleased. Regardless, Madoka fought back. "Stop! Not again!" she screamed, as Homura forced her into submission and brought her to the ground. Her hands were forced together in a way that made the back of her wrists touch, with her palms facing outward. Then she heard a zipping sound, and she felt her thumbs and wrists being locked together by some thin wire that dug into her skin if she tried to pull on it.

Madoka screamed and thrashed her body. Homura put a hand on her head and held the side of her face against the ground, trying to keep her still. The angle her arms were locked in at had her hands positioned just below the space between her shoulder blades, making it so that Madoka was unable to move her arms without causing herself pain in the shoulders.

If she tried to pull free from the tie, the wire dug too hard into her flesh and hurt. If she tried to move her arms up or down, her shoulders got a sharp pain. Tears of frustration streamed from her eyes as she felt herself losing freedom once again. "LET ME GO!" she screamed, kicking her legs as that was the only part she could move freely.

"Not until you are through with this tantrum and are ready to come along peacefully."

"I won't! Not until you tell me what's going on with Sayaka!" As Madoka said that she felt Homura's hand push harder into her face, she grunted and strained to look up through the corner of her eyes to see the darkness that had come over Homura, and Madoka felt scared.

Homura released her, and pulled her up to her feet "Miki isn't your concern. Just forget about her!" Homura was positioned behind Madoka as she forced her up. Madoka was in no mood to be forced along right now, however, and did the one thing she could think to resist. She flung her head backwards, and crashed the back of her skull right into the center of Homura's face, but connecting with far more force than she had actually intended. She turned around to see what she had done, but halfway through turning around, she froze.

Homura had fallen to the ground. She never expected such an aggressive action from Madoka, and therefore ended up taking the blow cleanly. She pulled her hand away from her face and found that there was blood on her palm. Her nose dripped a few more red drops which froze in mid air just before touching the ground. Homura turned her face upward, her eyes full of fury, and she looked at the frozen Madoka. She stood there, locked in time, with an anxious look on her face, her lips sneered in aggression, but her eyes were wide and guilty about what she had just done.

Homura stood, breathing hard, her hair fell over her face in a tangled mess. "You IDIOT!" She screamed at the frozen Madoka. She stood and faced her with her fists balled at her sides. "Just this once forget about Miki! She's going to die, OKAY? She's weak and she's going to get herself KILLED, and if you try to save her, YOU'RE going to die! You're either going to die or make a stupid WISH!" She inhaled deeply and let out a loud scream, as she fell back to her knees. She hit the palm of her hand into the ground again and again, trying to let out as much of her anger as she could so she wouldn't end up taking it out on Madoka and doing something she'd regret.

Why did Kyubey have to mention Sayaka's name? Madoka was finally coming around, and she was finally starting to obey. Now, that was all out the window. Madoka's undying love for that stupid weak imbecile was something Homura could never get her past no matter how hard she tried. She hit the ground over and over, until she was out of breath, and her hands hurt. She worked out her aggression, and continued staring at the ground a moment longer, giving herself a little more time to regain her composure.

When she was ready, she stood and looked at Madoka, and reached out to her. Her hand moved forward, but stopped with her fingertips just barely brush the skin of Madoka's face; it was close enough she could feel Madoka's warmth, but not close enough to pull her into the time flow. "Please," Homura pleaded with her, although she wouldn't be able to hear anything that was said. "Just this once... Just listen to me this one time and do what I say." Her eyes looked Madoka up and down, taking in every inch of her, every curve of her body, every part of her that she had held before in a past life. Although she was standing right here, Madoka never seemed so far away. Despite standing right there, frozen, and tied up, Homura had never felt further away from reaching her.

She pulled her hand away, and walked down the street. She found a broken window with enough light shining on it that she was able to see her reflection. She used her SoulGem to heal her bloody nose, wiped away her tears, and straightened her hair, then walked back to where she had left Madoka. Now that she had time to calm herself down, she was ready to pull Madoka back into her time flow. To Madoka, it would seem only a moment had passed and she would still be in the full heat of the conflict. Homura prepared herself for that.

She grabbed onto Madoka's shoulder with the gentlest touch she could manage. Madoka looked at her with a red furious face, and confrontational eyes, but she seemed a bit taken aback, and somewhat subdued by Homura's now calm demeanor. Homura didn't seem to have anything to say, so Madoka started first. "I have to go to Sayaka!" she stated.

"I'm not going to allow that."

"I don't care! I'm done taking orders from you! Either let me go or you're just going to have to drag me all the way back!"

"That can be arranged," Homura said, coolly. "I don't want to do that to you, but if you leave me no choice, I'll have to." Her eyes darkened in that stern commanding way she had. "This is for your own good."

Madoka just glared at her. Homura still had a hand on her shoulder and as much as Madoka hated to be touched by her right now it was pointless to pull away because she would just freeze herself again. She didn't know what to do, and she understood physically resisting Homura wouldn't get her anywhere.

She had to get away... She had to go to Sayaka... "Please." She spoke calmly, looking Homura in the eyes, pleading with her. "Please just let me go. You don't have to save me, and I don't want your help." Homura didn't bother responding to that, her face remained completely still and void of emotion as she grabbed the chain.

"Let's go, I've wasted enough of my magic already. I don't have any more time for this." She flung her hair back and started leading the way once again. The way she spoke was so final that it didn't leave any room for argument, and Madoka found herself following along, just as she always does. It took her a few steps to realize she was letting it happen again, and she stopped.

"No! I told you I'm not going with you!" Homura ignored her, and pulled on the chain. Madoka didn't have use of her arms anymore, but tried to plant her feet and stop herself from being pulled. Using only her neck, she pulled against the collar, but instantly felt a sharp pain in her shoulders and stopped. She shrieked from that sudden pain, and stumbled forward to catch up with Homura and relieve the pressure. The awkward angle her arms were bent at meant if she tensed her muscles and tried to resist it would cause there to be extra pressure around her already aching shoulders. Madoka's eyes widened at the realization. Had Homura tied her up like this purposely for that reason? She watched Homura's back, her long black hair flowing back and forth as she continued to lead.

"You understand now, right?" Homura said, not turning around. "I have the power here, you don't have a choice but to obey me, so just make things easier on yourself and accept it."

Madoka felt her heart sinking. Part of her had the idea if she was resistant enough it was possible to break away from Homura by pure strength of will. Even back at the hotel, or even as far back as the park when all this started, she never thought her situation was hopeless. She thought she was just too scared to do what needed to be done to break away. Now that she thought Sayaka was in danger, she felt more resolved, and was taking that extra step to resist Homura and try to get away. That strength was fading from her quickly, however. That small glimmering sense of control she thought she could obtain was now disappearing from her sight. She realized no matter how much she willed for it, she could not escape from Homura. She was going to be Homura's prison for as long as Homura wanted.

Madoka tried once more to resist, to plant her feet and stop moving, but as soon as she reached the end of the chain and had to use her neck to pull against it that horrible sharp pain came back to her shoulders. She whimpered and stumbled forward, now walking in pace with Homura. Her eyes were starting to sting. _Why… I can't do anything! What am I supposed to do now?_ She thought to herself, desperately.

"Don't hate me for this," said Homura. "I don't take any pleasure in doing this to you, but if I allow you to have your freedom you will only end up hurting yourself in the end." There was something eerie in the way she was speaking. It was so cold and void of emotion.

"I have plenty of magic left, so I can easily keep you like this all the way back to the hotel. I'd rather not waste it, however. Once we get some more distance on Kyubey I would like to resume time, but dawn is starting to break, and people will be out. Therefore, I would have to untie you in order to do that." She looked over her shoulder at Madoka to see if she was still being defiant. Madoka just stared at the ground, walking behind her obediently, trapped in a moment of distress as she was coming to terms with just how powerless she was. "You understand that you can't get away, right?" Homura pressed on. "So it would be pointless to try and run, or scream for help, and it will only make things even harder on you."

Madoka shook her head. "What about Sayaka?" She asked, her voice small and weak. "Can you at least tell me..."

Homura sighed and decided she had no choice but to come out with it. "She has become a Magical Girl."

Madoka's head shot up. She looked at Homura, hoping it was a lie. She thought about the injuries Kyoko had after fighting the witch, she thought about how Homura had her flesh seared off her back but acted as if it was nothing, even claiming that it wasn't the worst injury she had ever received. Sayaka was going to have to go through things like that too? "But... If you know the future, why didn't you stop her?" Madoka asked.

"She never listens to me. You know better than anyone how hard headed she can be. Aside from that, Kyubey is a master of manipulation, as I have stated before. Just look, after only a few moments with you he had already managed to undo all..." Homura stopped herself and cleared her throat. What was she going to say? _'undo all the work I put into training you'? - 'effort I put into making you obey me'_? - That's what was on her the tip of her tongue, and she hoped Madoka didn't pick up on it. "He… he's already trying to manipulate you as well," she settled on.

Madoka didn't seem to notice anything, her thoughts were too wrapped up in thinking about Sayaka. "She'll be okay though, right? You know the future so tell me she is going to be alright!" Homura didn't respond, and Madoka knew what that meant, her eyes started to tear up.

"I won't lie to you Madoka," she said. "The truth is Sayaka Miki is not like Kyoko or myself, she isn't cut out to be a Magical Girl. For your sake, however, I'll do my best to try and protect her, although she may not want my assistance." Madoka eye's widened and she shook her head; she knew all too well what Homura's version of _protecting_ someone meant. Homura noticed this and said, "I am not going to go through the same troubles for her as I have for you, if that's what you are thinking. I doubt I could keep that girl under control even if I wanted to. I'll do what I can to warn her of the dangers that face her in the future, however." Madoka looked like she wanted to say more, but Homura cut her off, "We can talk more about this later, I'll answer all the questions you have, but can we please get moving now?" Madoka took a moment, but eventually she nodded, although a bit reluctantly.

They were mostly quiet while they walked, but feeling the pain in her shoulders, Madoka finally spoke up, meekly, and asked, "Um... Homura, this is really uncomfortable." She gestured behind herself to signal she was talking about the way her arms were tied. "I'm..." She swallowed hard, hating herself for what she was about to say. "I'm sorry I tried to resist... I-I won't do it again..." She blushed and let her eyes sink away. "I'm just worried about Sayaka is all..." When Homura didn't respond right away she desperately added: "I promise I'll listen to you! So please... I-it actually hurts."

Homura nodded and moved behind her to undo the zip ties. She looked at it first, thinking it was kind of mean to have done something like this to Madoka, but she couldn't deny that it was effective. She knew the awkward position her arms were forced into would be painful, which was done intentionally to keep her under control, though Homura still felt bad about it. She reached under her shield and pulled out a pocket knife, then carefully put it against the plastic wires. "You are not going to cause me any more trouble tonight?" asked Homura.

"No..." Madoka said again, again hating herself for being so weak. What choice did she have though? She took some solace in that idea, at least. "I-I promise. Just undo it, please!"

Homura cut the tie, and Madoka breathed a sigh of relief. She stretched out her arms and massaged her wrists and thumbs.

"I'll have you on the chain just a little longer. When I'm satisfied we are too far for Kyubey to catch up to us we can walk the rest of the way normally." She pulled on the chain. "Ready?"

Madoka was reluctant to respond, but she nodded her head, there was a worn defeated look in her eyes, and she spoke plainly... "Yes..."


	20. Something important

**Chapter 20**

 **I**

A cool spring breeze blew in through the window, carrying the smell of rain from the night before. The ambient sounds of the early morning city lingered in the air; cars honking, a garbage truck starting up and screeching to a stop, small pieces of human chatter from along the sidewalk outside the apartment.

Mami sat across from Sayaka, her face buried in her teacup, her eyes red and heavy. "Guess you're not much of a morning person? Huh?" Sayaka joked, noting how bad she looked.

"I... didn't sleep very well last night." She sighed and forced a smile. "Perhaps it was the rain." She didn't want to embarrass Sayaka by revealing how bad her snoring was. Despite the snoring, Mami liked having her over, she was inherently a social person and therefore usually felt lonely being here all by herself, so it was a nice change to have company.

"Anyway, thanks for letting me stay last night. I know I showed up kind of unexpectedly."

"No, no, not at all. I enjoyed having you, really. Besides..." Mami's tone got a bit more serious, and Sayaka knew what she wanted to talk about. Sayaka reached into her pocket and pulled out the glowing blue gem she had stashed there, and set it on the table. They both stared at it for a moment.

When Sayaka had shown up last night she seemed very tired and drained of energy, so Mami spared her the serious conversation they would have to have. Now, she thought it was time, Sayaka may have only just now become a Magical Girl, but it would be best to start her training right away. "So, you helped that boy after all, right?"

"Yeah..." Sayaka said. She smiled, though there was some sadness in her eyes.

"That's wonderful," said Mami. "You are sure that's what you wanted though, right?"

Sayaka nodded right away, giving not a moment's hesitation that could signal a layer of doubt. "Yeah... I mean, when I went to visit him, he was really depressed. He wasn't acting like himself, and I guess we sort of got into a fight. Then... then, he ended up having a seizure or something..." Her voice choked a bit. "I mean, seeing him like that... and then all I could do is run away. I don't know. I sat down in front of the hospital, and I was looking at my hands and thinking: There's nothing special about these hands, I can't do anything, I can't create anything, I can't play music like he could. I was thinking I would give anything to be able to trade places with him, but I realized I wouldn't have to actually trade places." She smiled. "All I would have to do is become a Magical Girl and use my wish to save him. Besides that, I can fight witches now and save even more people, so it's a win-win. Ya'know?"

Mami nodded. "As long as you understand it's not a game. Being a Magical Girl can be very dangerous." She smiled. "But don't worry, I'll show you the ropes. Besides, if we are teaming up we'll be able to watch each other's backs, so it'll be safer for me as well." Sayaka returned the smile and nodded an agreement. "First thing you should do is find a more convenient form for your SoulGem." She held out her hand to show her the ring that was around her finger. "This is how I keep mine while I'm not in combat."

Sayaka picked up her own SoulGem and looked at it. "What do I do?"

"Don't over think it. Just think about what form you would like your SoulGem to take, and it will happen."

Sayaka took a moment to think about it, then held it up to her ear. She thought it would take some level of concentration, but it was just as Mami said. All she did was think about what it might look like as an earring, then it flashed a blue light and fused onto her ear. Sayaka looked back at Mami. "Did it work?" Mami got up and grabbed a pocketbook from her bag on the counter and brought it back to her. Sayaka opened it and looked at herself in the small mirror; hanging from her earlobe, there was now an earring with a blue jewel shaped like a teardrop. Sayaka couldn't believe how easy that was, it happened as easily as if she were to move one of her arms or her legs.

"Magic should come naturally to you, at least the basics anyway. There are more advanced things I can teach you, but we will get to that later."

Sayaka couldn't take her eyes off the mirror. She moved it back and forth, looking at her SoulGem's new form from all different angles. "Wow... This is..." She laughed. "This is so cool!"

Mami laughed. "Just don't go around showing off to anyone, now. It would be a problem if normal people knew about us."

"Heh, yeah I know. Still, I almost wish I could." She grinned.

"So, ready to take down your first witch?" Mami mused, sipping her tea.

"What? Already? I-I mean, yeah sure! Bring it on!" Sayaka laughed and tried to act confident, but she was hit with a sudden pang of anxiety, thinking about the witch that she had seen Mami fight the other night.

"Sorry, I was just joking, actually. We should go out on a patrol, through. Hopefully we can find some familiars for you to practice on first. Actually, I know of a spot just outside the city that's fairly secluded. Why don't we go there first, and see what you can do."

"Alright! Sounds good to me."

 **II**

Madoka's eyes opened. She gasped and flinched back when she saw Homura leaning over her. "It's alright," she said softly, "I'm just untying your hands. I'm awake now so there's no need to keep you tied up." After working at the knot for a few moments, Madoka felt its grip loosen, and she was free. She rubbed her wrists, and looked up at Homura with tired eyes. Homura stood over her, holding the rope in one hand. "You can go back to sleep if you like. You don't have to get up right away. Although, I'm going to need to go out again today, so you should try and get some breakfast."

She walked over to the closet where she had been keeping the rope stashed. When she hid it away and closed the door, she looked back at Madoka who was staring at her with resentment in her eyes. Homura ignored it. "You wanted to write a letter for your parents as well, right? I can deliver it today if you are able to finish before I have to leave." With that, she left the room. After a few moments Madoka could hear her banging around in the kitchen.

Madoka laid her head back down on the pillow, and pulled the covers over herself. She didn't get much sleep, and would be easy for her to drift off again, but she didn't really want to, so she forced her eyes to stay open. Though she was content with just feeling the softness of the bed for now, and not having to talk to Homura.

As she thought back on the night before, it almost felt like a dream. Cutting herself free after Homura left, running through the rain, making it to Sayaka's house only to be caught by Homura once again. Then having a collar put on her... her face reddened just thinking about that. Why did she let Homura do that to her? She didn't really have a choice, but it's not like she resisted the way she should have. _I'm so weak,_ she thought. Even now, laying in this bed and waiting for breakfast, it's almost as if she was just accepting it. Despite that stronger part of her telling her this was all wrong, she was allowing it.

Her feelings towards Homura were so mixed up, she didn't know what she thought. On the surface she was angry at her, and a little bit afraid of her. She could even go as far as to say she hated her now, she supposed. When she thought deeper, trying to strengthen that hatred, she found that the opposite was happening. She trusted her, despite everything she had put her through, Madoka didn't hate her at all. Even when she pulled that mean trick last night, bending her arms in a way that forced her to submit, Madoka felt herself defending Homura's actions in her own mind.

She put her hands on the pillow and buried her face in it. She thought if she could let out a loud scream and vent her frustrations, she could start thinking clearly. She was so mixed up. She didn't scream, though; Homura would hear her.

When the incubator offered her a chance to be free, she didn't have an opportunity to answer. What would she have said if she did? She wanted to see Sayaka again very badly, so she probably would have given away their location. That would have been the only reason, though. Otherwise, she thought for sure she would have turned down the offer for a rescue, because Homura told her the incubator was dangerous, and she believed her.

At least by the end of the night she managed to convince Homura that she didn't give their location away. She was so tired when they got back, she had felt herself drifting off the second her body fell down on the bed. Even as Homura started working at tying her hands to the bed frame, it had felt as though it was becoming a part of a dream as her consciousness slipped away.

She continued to lay there for a while, but the smell of whatever Homura was cooking finally tempted her out of the room. She went out into the living room, and watched Homura from over the kitchen bar. On the bar there sat a notebook and an unopened package of pens. She walked over to it and ran her hand over the top of the notebook. She was still lost deep in thought, partly from tiredness, partly because she still hadn't worked out her feelings.

Homura was by the stove, and gave her a nod. "I'm making pancakes. It won't be done for a little while, so why don't you get started on that?" She turned back to the stove and continued with what she was doing. "There's something important that needs to happen today, and I can't be late."

Madoka sat down and flipped open the notebook. She just stared at the blank page, no idea what she wanted to write, or how to get started. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Sayaka is going to be fighting her first witch today. She's going to be fine, though, it's the other one I'm worried about."

Madoka looked up, "Mami Tomoe?" she had heard that name from the incubator, and was surprised that it stuck with her so easily in spite of all the other craziness from last night. Homura stopped what she was doing and looked at her with a very serious expression.

"I suppose Kyubey told you that name?" Madoka nodded. Homura lowered the heat on the stove and went to stand across from her at the bar. Madoka felt nervous; lately, being under the scrutiny of Homura's intense stare was having that effect on her. "You're sure you didn't give away our location to him?" she asked. "You are absolutely positive about that?" Madoka shrank back, and nodded again, not able to look Homura in the eyes. Homura continued to stare her down for a moment longer, and it was a relief when she finally turned back to the stove. "I trust you. I really shouldn't, considering everything you did last night, but I suppose I don't have a choice. It would be too inconvenient to move you right now, anyway."

 _Besides,_ Madoka thought, _you could just take me right back again anyway, right?_ "Is Sayaka going to be okay?" Madoka spoke quietly, she continued staring at the blank notebook, lightly running her fingers down the page.

"Mami is a powerful Magical Girl. Probably the strongest I have ever known, and she has taken Sayaka under her wing. Sayaka will be fine, for now. There are... other dangers that face her in the future, but I'll do my best to keep her safe." When she said _other dangers_ , she was partly referring to Mami herself, though, in most timelines the biggest danger to Sayaka was Sayaka herself.

She glanced back over to see Madoka hadn't even picked up a pen yet. "If you don't finish that it might be a while before I have another chance to deliver it. So get started."

 **III**

Kyoko walked through the supermarket, grabbing things off the shelves in a way that almost seemed totally random, and placed them inside a basket she had slung over her elbow. Items from the candy aisle ended up taking up a good portion of the basket, but she also found some instant foods that could be considered an actual meal. From the produce aisle she got a good bag full of apples, and she snagged a couple bags of chips on her way back to the front.

Getting near the front of the store, she feigned interest in whatever foods were behind a glass door, and through the corners of her eyes she scoped out her path to the exit. She found that shoplifting isn't something that required an elaborate plan that needed to be carefully executed. The best way to go was usually to just walk right out in broad daylight, doing so casually enough that no one bats an eye at you. Especially since it was a saturday morning, the store was busy enough that she would blend right in. The chances of anyone paying close enough attention to her, to see if she actually paid or not, were pretty slim.

She still had to be somewhat discreet, though. She needed to choose a path that didn't take her too close to any employees. She also liked to file in behind a small group, usually a family, and blend herself in that way. That kind of set up didn't seem possible here, though, because the exit was behind the row of cash registers. She decided to just skip that part, and do the ordinary casual stroll out the front door and see how things went. It was a bit of a hail-mary approach to doing things, but it usually worked out better than one would expect. Even if someone _did_ catch her, she always had the option to just run.

The last few registers, furthest from the door, weren't in use, so she used that as a way to get through. She glanced around with her eyes, not moving her head, as she watched, checking to make sure most of the employees were distracted. Everything seemed good, and there was no security or anything like that in sight, so she strolled on through to the very front of the store. She walked down the aisle, casually as possible, no one seeming pay her any mind. That is, until she was just a few steps from the automatic door and the very front of the store, a middle-aged man wearing a white collared shirt with a few pens sticking out of the front pocket stepped in her way.

"Excuse me miss, may I see your receipt?" he said it as politely and professionally as possible, although there was suspicion in his eyes. Yet, there was some doubt there too, so she tried to talk her way out of it.

"My receipt? Oh sure, yeah no problem." She started digging around in her pockets, stalling while she evaluated the option to push past him and make a run for it. "Oh... let's see..." She switched between all her different pockets. "That's strange, I don't seem to have it." She laughed. "Actually, now that I think about it, I think the clerk forgot to hand me one at all."

"I see, and which clerk was that?"

She looked back and quickly picked one out. She chose a really young one who had just started with a new customer "Aisle six," she said to the manager.

"And he forgot to bag your groceries as well?" the manager asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I requested no bags. See, I'm just really into doing my part for the environment and all that. I mean, do you have any idea how much litter could be reduced if even one tenth of the population were to stop using plastic grocery bags?" She grinned. "Yeaa _aaah_... it's... _uneconomical._ " She could tell by his posture, folded arms and tapping foot, that he wasn't buying it. She was going to need to make a run for it.

"Why don't you come with me for a few minutes, young lady," the manager finally said, gesturing over to an office door near the entrance.

"Sorry, but I've actually got a full schedule." She started to move past him. "I really gotta run..." He grabbed onto her arm, not too forcefully, but firmly enough to stop her.

"Sorry miss, but not until we've made a few phone calls. The authorities are going to have to be contacted."

Kyoko put on her scared schoolgirl face. "No! Look, I'm sorry! I'll put it all back. I didn't mean to cause trouble.. I-I just..." It seemed to be working a little bit, but it was clear he didn't plan on just letting her go.

"Look, it's alright," he said calmly, looking around and hoping not too much of a commotion was being made. "We're not going to press charges, but you at least need to be taken back to your parents."

Tears started to well up in Kyoko's eyes, and she looked up at him pleadingly. "I-I don't have parents... I'm homeless, and that's why..." She sniffed. "Th-that's why…" Her face scrunched up and she looked as if she were about to start bawling tears. She reached into the basket and pulled out her bag of apple. "I-I have enough to pay for these, I'll put the rest back... Just, let me go and forget about all this. You'll never see me here again, I promise..." Her eyes slunk away as she awaited his answer. After all that, it seemed she was getting to him at least a little bit.

"Ok, listen, why don't you come into my office. We are going to see if there's someone who can help you." So, he was still pretty insistent on not letting her go.

She sighed, and sucked the tears right back into her face. "Welllp, can't say I didn't try," she grinned. The sudden change in attitude threw the manager into a moment of confusion, which Kyoko used to her advantage. In one swift motion she swung the bag of apples she was holding and hit him square in the center of the face. He stumbled back and lost his grip on her arm, letting out a shout. Kyoko turned and hightailed it out the door.

"Wait! Stop!" she heard him say, but she paid him no mind. She lost some of the items in her basket during that brief struggle, which is a sacrifice she didn't like to make, but there was no helping it at this point. Half way down the block she heard him again: "Someone stop her!" But for the most part people only turned and looked in confusion. Before anyone had a chance to figure out what was going on, she was down the block and disappearing into an alleyway.


	21. Let me go!

**Chapter 21**

 **I**

Homura finished cooking the pancakes and set a full plate in front of Madoka. She peeked over to the notebook to see what she had written so far. So far, she only had one word: _Dear._

Madoka didn't react to the food that was placed in front of her, she just continued staring at the mostly blank page. Homura watched her, trying to read her expressions, but there was little in the way of expression to be read. "Madoka?" she asked.

"Hm?"

Homura didn't really have a question to ask, she just wanted to see some motion out of the girl who was sitting there as still as a statue. Without anything else to say, she stated the obvious, "Foods done."

Madoka's eyes looked over to the plate of pancakes for a moment. The pen was still poised in her hand, hanging over the blank page. "I'm not hungry." She said, her eyes drifting back to the notebook.

"What are you talking about?" Homura said, "You haven't eaten since last night, it's almost noon, of course you're hungry." She reached her hand out and scooted the notebook away. Madoka's hand still held the pen in the same position, in spite of the notebook no longer being under it. "Why don't you eat first? Then you can get started. Even if you are not hungry now, you will be in a few hours." Homura watched Madoka for a few more seconds. She was still motionless, and seemed completely lost.

"I didn't drug your food or anything like that... If that's what you are thinking. I told you I would never do something as underhanded as that."

Madoka shook her head. "I know."

Homura felt a certain twinge of frustration hit her heart. She grabbed Madoka's hand and moved it to the side, then slid the plate in front of her. "If you are doing this purposely to try and slow me down, I don't find it very amusing. What I have to do today is important. It's for Sayaka's own good as well. So please hurry."

Finally, she seemed to react to the sound of Sayaka's name. "Oh... I'm sorry," she said, her voice soft and detached. She set down the pen and picked up the fork. Once Homura saw her take the first bite, she was satisfied that the girl was going to eat, and went to fix her own plate.

As she was putting the pancakes on her own plate she looked over to Madoka, who was eating at least, but rather slowly and without much passion. Homura just watched her for a while, now starting to feel bad. She had never seen Madoka like this before; she looked tired and beaten. Perhaps she had been too rough with her last night? Well, what choice did she have? Madoka tried to escape last night, and had to be brought back. When she was resistant, she had to be brought back _forcefully_. Really, considering everything, Homura had been almost _too_ accommodating with her. She had tried, at least.

She brought her plate over to sit across from Madoka and starting eating herself. "Your parents will be happy to get a letter from you," she said, trying to start a conversation, but Madoka didn't respond, she just continued with her slow eating.

Homura couldn't take it, she hated seeing Madoka like this. She set her fork down and stared at her. Madoka could feel Homura's eyes upon her, and she became motionless once again. "Madoka, are you feeling okay?" Homura asked, trying to sound comforting.

Madoka nodded. "Yes, fine."

"You don't look fine..." Homura brushed her hair back and tried to think. "Aren't you at least a little excited be sending your family a letter? So you can let them know you are alright?" Madoka started eating again, seeming like she didn't want to respond to that. Homura sighed, realizing Madoka was in one of her moods, and decided to just leave her alone for now.

Things were going to be alright, Homura assured herself. This is still only day three with Madoka as her captive, she just needs more time to adjust. Maybe after a few weeks, or a few months, they would be able to start having a more pleasant relationship with each other. Besides, Madoka was probably just upset about last night. She would get over it soon enough; Homura hoped she would, anyway.

They both finished eating in silence and Homura took the plate from her. "I've got to go in one hour," she said. "That should be plenty of time to finish writing the letter, you can take a shower too, if you're quick enough." Before taking the plates to the sink, Homura slid the notebook back in front of Madoka, to reiterate the point that she would like for her to get started right away.

Madoka picked up the pen, and stared at the one word she had written. Finally, she touched the pen down and wrote, "Mom and Dad" Then, her hand stopped again, not sure where to begin.

"I was thinking…" Homura approached the subject cautiously. "That you could tell them you've run away, and you are somewhere safe…"

Madoka didn't seem like she wanted to respond to that at first, but eventually she shook her head and said, "I don't want to lie to them. I don't want them to worry either, so that's why it's hard…"

Homura sighed, and sat down across from her. "Actually, I would really like it if you _did_ tell them you ran away… You can be vague, perhaps say there's something important you have to do. I won't tell you what to write, however. It's your choice. If you don't want to take that approach you don't have to, but it may make them-"

"Can you go somewhere else while I do this?" Madoka's voice was toneless. "I can't think while you are sitting right there." Homura was taken aback at first. She wasn't sure if she heard a bit of resentment in Madoka's voice as she said that. She stared for a moment, then nodded and stood up. She wanted to take a shower, but she couldn't trust Madoka to stay in the room while she was out of sight. Instead, she sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. She figured she would give Madoka thirty minutes before checking her progress. Hopefully it would be done by then.

Madoka eventually got the pen moving. She crossed a lot of sentences and words out along the way. She wished there was some way to give a hint of where she was at, but then again, there really was no point. Even if she did manage to give her location away to the police, somehow, it's not like there's anyone who could help her. She knew all too well how powerful Homura's magic was, and as long as she could be pulled into her timeflow there's no way for her to get away. Besides that, if she got caught trying to do something sneaky, Homura would just get angry with her again.

When she finished with the letter she read over it, and then tore it out and started again from the beginning so she could make a cleaner copy without all the edits. Just as she finished the last sentence and was signing her name, Homura got up and walked up behind her to stand over her shoulder.

"Can I see it?" Homura asked. Madoka became tense and put her hand over the page, almost as if she wanted to protect it. "Sorry, but I need to proof read it… you understand." Eventually, Madoka slid it to the side so Homura could see.

 _Dear Mom and Dad,_

 _First of all, I want you to know that I'm alright. I'm not being hurt, and I have been eating properly over the last few days. I don't want to scare you, but you deserve an explanation. The truth is, I'm being held against my will by someone. I don't think she is a bad person, and again I want to make the point that I am not being harmed in any way._

Homura picked up the pen and crossed out the word 'she', Madoka watched as she did this, but did not complain. "You'll have to change that to a gender neutral word." Homura explained. Madoka nodded.

 _She_ _hasn't told me how long_ _she_ _plans to keep me here, but_ _she_ _has agreed to allow me to send letters as often as I like. I may even be allowed to make a phone call sometime, but I was told to be careful about what I say._

 _I know it would be pointless to say "Please don't worry", and honestly I am a little bit afraid, and lonely because I miss you all so much. But it's important to me that you know I'm not being harmed._

 _Anyway, I don't know what more I'm allowed to say for now, but I will continue to send you letters, and hopefully we can talk soon._

 _I love you all so much, and hope that this all isn't too hard on you._

 _Please let Sayaka know I miss her too, and wish I could see her._

 _Love, Madoka._

Homura crossed out the word " _she"_ everywhere she saw it, but other than that she didn't see anything else that could be a subliminal message. She did focus on the line about Sayaka for a while, wondering if that was meant as a call for help from her friend who was now a Magical Girl. The pen hovered over that line for a while, she wanted to cross it out, but couldn't really think of a good enough reason to, so she left it alone. "This is okay," said Homura. "Just find a way to avoid using the word _she_ , if you can." She looked up to the clock. "I need to leave once you're finished with the last draft, so hurry up."

 **II**

"So, that must be the rookie," Kyoko said to herself, popping a lollipop out of her mouth. She was sitting indian style atop a building that was near Mami's apartment. She was dressed in her full Magical Girl attire, with the tail of her crimson red tunic blowing in the wind. She watched as Mami left her apartment with some blue-haired chick walking by her side.

After she had finished " _shopping_ ", Kyoko had made a quick run around the center part of the city where she suspected Homura was staying with her pet girl. She realized it was pretty unrealistic to expect to find her with so little to go on, so she abandoned that mission and went to stake out her other competition. It had been a while since she saw Mami in person, but she didn't seem to have changed much physically. The fact that she was once again taking a rookie under her wing showed that mentally she was probably about the same as well. "Idiot," Kyoko said as she stood up and chomped down on the lollipop. She tossed the stem over the edge of the building and it slowly glided back down to the city streets below. "When are you going to learn?"

Kyoko was the last rookie that Mami had taken under her wing, and in the end it ended up being a mistake for both of them. It was a mistake for Kyoko, because Mami filled her young naive head with all those foolish ideas of fighting to protect people. It was a mistake for Mami, because in the end her precious kohai betrayed her. Kyoko had zero regrets about it, because her eyes were opened to the truth of what it meant to be a Magical Girl, while Mami's eyes stayed shut. Mami preferred to go on believing in her fantasies about fighting for truth and justice, even while the cold hard reality was staring her right in the face. Kyoko decided that she would never have any respect for anyone who acted like that.

Kyoko walked along the edge of the building, keeping pace with the two unsuspecting Magical Girls below. She had her spear in her right hand, balancing it over her shoulder, and the tail of her tunic trailed behind her.

She wondered where they were going. Were they going on a witch hunt? If so, Kyoko had an idea of crashing the party and snatching up the GreifSeed for herself. That would send a clear enough message to Mami that she was back in town; if she didn't know already. It would also clear the air that she was planning to take Mitakihara Town for herself, and therefore the GreifSeeds belonged to her. It was a large piece of territory, but there simply wasn't enough to go around if there were now four Magical Girls here, so that meant it was time for war.

Taking care of the rookie shouldn't be a problem, Kyoko thought. Mami, on the other hand, might be a fool, but her power could not be denied. This Homura girl added another interesting piece to the puzzle. Perhaps Kyoko could sway Homura over to her side, and use her to help get Mami out of the picture. Those two were apparently already at odds as it was, so it shouldn't be _too_ hard. Besides, Kyoko helped Homura out last night by sharing her GreifSeed, so Homura owed her one. She had better realize she does, anyway.

With Mami and the rookie out of the way it would just be Kyoko and Homura in Mitakihara Town, which wouldn't be too much of a problem. If it did turn out that Homura was a problem for her, she supposed she could always stab her in the back sometime when her guard was down. Perhaps while on a witch hunt together? Well, she figured she was thinking too far ahead for now.

"One step at a time," she told herself, with a grin, using her free hand to unwrap a fresh lollipop. She stuck it in her mouth and let the wrapper float away on a gust of wind.

 **III**

When Madoka was finished with the final draft of the letter, Homura read over it again and decided it was okay. She rewrote the sentences with the word 'she', using 'the person' instead, or avoiding the use of the word all together. Homura folded it up and put it in her pocket. "Alright, it's time," she said, getting up from her seat and gesturing over to the bedroom.

Madoka just looked towards the open doorway, her hands fidgeting together the way they tended to do when she was nervous or uncomfortable. " _Am I really just going to let myself be tied up again?"_ she thought, _"I should do something. I should try and run away."_ She stood up and started following Homura into the room. _"I can't, though. It would be pointless to try… but…"_ She entered the room, and stood just inside the doorway, looking at the bed. _"I don't want to do this again…"_

Homura went into the closet and dug around for a while. She produced the rope and walked over to the bedside. She noticed Madoka wasn't moving from her place in the doorway, so she motioned her hand over to the bed. "Here, come lay down." Madoka didn't move, her eyes just slunk down to the floor, and a distressed look came over her face. "What's the matter?"

"How long are you going to be gone?" She asked in a small voice.

"Only three hours, four at the latest," Homura assured her. "Then you will be free for the rest of the day, until you are ready to go to bed."

"I-I… um…" She was subconsciously looking for a way to stall. She didn't want to be tied up again, but in the end she knew there was no way to avoid it. So, the next best thing to avoiding it, was to delay it. "I need a clock!" she finally said. Homura just raised an eyebrow. Madoka's hands fidgeted around, "I-it's hard, when I don't know how long I've been there… Maybe it would be easier if I at least knew what time it was, and I knew when you would be coming back."

Homura sighed and set the rope down on the bed. She walked past Madoka and went out into the living room. Madoka peeked out the doorway, and saw she was disconnecting the DVD player from the TV. She came back in with it, set it on the dresser and plugged it in, then started programming the built in clock. "There," she said when she was done. "Ready now?"

"Um…" She took a moment to think. "Would it be possible to play some music… somehow?" Homura just gave her an unamused stare. "You don't have to turn the volume up very high…" she explained, "Just loud enough for me to hear it. I'm sure it won't be heard out in the hall…"

"I'll get a small radio for you while I'm out. For now, I don't have anything." Homura gestured toward the bed once again, but Madoka still remained motionless. Homura looked over to the clock that she had just set, and let out a frustrated sigh. She didn't have time for this.

She walked over to Madoka and softly put a hand on her shoulder. Madoka flinched at the touch. "It's okay," Homura said as softly as possible. "I understand, but you need to learn to start accepting this." Madoka just continued to stare at the floor. Homura put a hand on the side of Madoka's face, and with a gentle touch she forced her head to turn and face her. "I would never do anything to hurt you." Madoka's nervous wide eyed stare got a smile in return from Homura, and Homura started leading her forward by the shoulder.

She had to admit, she didn't entirely hate seeing Madoka like this. Not the fact that she was scared, and clearly sad about being kept away from her family. Homura truly felt bad about that. It was this submissive side of her that Homura liked. It was rare, because despite the silly schoolgirl Madoka appeared to be, she could also be quite stubborn a strong willed. She was brave, and would sacrifice herself for the good of others, which would be a good trait if it did not make protecting her such a seemingly impossible task.

If only Homura could make her listen… but, now she would. She did not have a choice. Even if not willfully, Homura at least had her under control, and she hoped that would be enough to finally keep her safe.

Madoka climbed onto the bed, and sat up. She watched as Homura grabbed the rope and started tying a noose at the end. When that was done, she held out a hand which asked Madoka to offer her own. Madoka had her arms crossed over her chest, and she hugged herself tightly, still seeming to be a bit resistant. "Give me your hand," Homura asked out right.

"How are you doing it?"

"Spread eagle," Homura said plainly. "That way I don't have to worry about needing to chase you across town again when I get back." She reached forward and grabbed Madoka's wrist. She had to use some force, as Madoka wasn't entirely willing to comply, but the resistance she did show was rather weak.

"Were you and Sayaka friends?" she asked, abruptly. "In your past lives?"

Sayaka again... her mind was always on _Sayaka_!

"Sometimes," Homura said, as she put a hand on Madoka's chest, and pushed her down until she was fully laying on the bed. She then got the noose around her wrist, pulled it until it was snug but not too tight, and tied the other end to the bedpost. "Sometimes I was able to get along with her just fine. Other times, not so much."

"You're really going to try and protect her, right?" Madoka asked. Homura climbed up onto the bed so she could tie Madoka's other hand. She positioned one of her knees between Madoka's legs, which warranted a slight blush from the pinkette.

"Of course," Homura answered, not really lying. Truthfully, she did not really care what happened to Sayaka, but she did care about Madoka, and in order to keep Madoka happy she would have to try and save that foolish friend of hers.

She finished tying Madoka's wrist, then leaned over her as she started working at securing it to the other side of the bedpost. Madoka watched with a certain resigned distance in her eyes. "You said Kyubey always gets to me, and I end up making a wish. It's because of Sayaka, right?"

Homura stopped for a brief moment, and thought over how to answer. Then her hands started moving again and she finished the tie, giving it a quick pull to make it tight. "Sometimes," she said.

Homura had been leaning fully over Madoka's body as she did that tie, and now that her hands were securely bound it was time to get her feet. Homura got off the bed and went down to the end with the remaining pieces of rope. Madoka looked at her left wrist, and looked at the right, lightly pulling on each to verify what her eye's were seeing. _Is this real? Is this really happening again?_ Of course it was, and it wouldn't be the last time. This was going to keep happening.

Homura grabbed Madoka's left ankle and pulled it down to the bedpost. When she was all done securing both legs to the bottom posts she stepped back and examined her work.

"It's not too tight anywhere?" Homura asked, as she started testing the tension on Madoka's left ankle. Homura held Madoka's bare foot in her hand, to make sure it wasn't getting cold which would signal a loss of circulation. Both feet seemed fine, so she went around to check Madoka's hands. "Go ahead and pull a little bit," Homura said to her. "I want to make sure it's secure."

Madoka had been watching Homura as she walked around her, but now she looked away stubbornly, although she still obeyed the request and pulled against the rope. She had barely an inch of wiggle room on either side, so it didn't do much. "Alright, looks good," Homura said. "Do you want a pillow behind your head? Or are you okay like that?"

"It's fine…" Madoka said, in her small soft voice. Her eyes stared at the wall, narrow and intense. Homura nodded, and then walked out of the room to look for something to gag her with.

Now that Madoka had a moment alone, she took a closer look at her bindings. She lifted up her head to look at her feet, then watched each of her hands as she tested them again. _Why me… Why is this happening to me?_ Then, against her will her face started to scrunch up, and she could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. _No! Don't cry!_ she told herself.

She thought about Sayaka, and how much she missed her, and how she might be in danger. She thought about how worried her parents must be. She thought about school, Mrs. Saotome, Hitomi, her little brother, brushing teeth with her mom, helping her dad in the kitchen. When Homura walked back into the room, holding a rag and roll of tape, Madoka couldn't hold it in anymore.

She let out a sob and tears started pouring from her eyes. Her chest heaved up and down, and she turned her head as much as she could to try and hide her face against the bed.

"Madoka…" Homura walked over to her and set the rag and tape on the nightstand. She put one knee up on the bed, and leaned over Madoka, looking down at her. Madoka's futile attempt to hide her face just made her look all the more pitiable. Homura didn't know what to say, but she wanted to try and comfort her.

"Why me?" Madoka cried, seemingly more to herself than to Homura. Homura raised a hand and touched it to Madoka's face, she tried to wipe the tears away, but as soon as Madoka felt Homura's hand touch her she started thrashing her head back and forth. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, and Homura's hand instantly receded away. Madoka looked the other way and closed her eyes, her chest moved up and down with heavy breaths. "I don't like you touching me!" she said again, through gritted teeth. Homura just stared at her while Madoka refused to look back. She was pouting softly, but trying her best to hold it back as much as she could.

Then, Homura climbed fully on the bed, and climbed over top of Madoka, straddling her. Madoka looked up to see what she was doing, and Homura put a hand on each side of Madoka's head. Her thumbs each set themselves under one of Madoka's eyes, then moved down her cheeks, wiping the tears away.

Madoka whimpered, now having no choice but to look at Homura as her head was being held still. She didn't know what to say - should she just scream? Madoka spoke soft, in almost a whisper, "I-I said don't touch me..." Something about the look on Homura's face had subdued her. Homura didn't seem mad, or hurt, or upset. She was smiling. Homura's fingers combed through Madoka's hair, and her thumbs pulled down on the bottoms of her eyelids, forcing them to stay open. "Let me go," Madoka said again, in a slightly stronger tone, though it still didn't hold much authority. Her arms and legs were bound to the point of being motionless, her head was being held still, and she couldn't even close her eyes if she wanted. In such a position it was hard to hold any kind of resolve in her voice, yet she tried again with a weak whisper, "L-let me go."

Homura leaned forward to put her lips on Madoka's forehead, and she kissed her there. When she pulled away, she had a soft yet distant smile on her face. Her eye's looked Madoka over with the adoration a child might have for some beloved toy. Madoka's eyes were widened partly by shock and partly by Homura's thumbs holding them open. Homura whispered, "No."


	22. You're going to be safe

**Chapter 22**

 **I**

She didn't think with any lucidity about what she was doing, once she had started moving she couldn't stop herself. She hated seeing Madoka when she was upset, and she hated even more how Madoka tried to turn away when all she wanted to do is comfort her. Maybe it's that she finally couldn't take it anymore, and decided to be more assertive. Next thing she knew, she was on top of Madoka, straddling her, and holding her face. Then, after Madoka still tried to deny her by saying "Let me go" Homura leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead, whispering "No"

When she raised back up, to look down at her captive and gauge her reaction, Madoka just stared at her with a shocked expression on her face. Homura moved her thumbs along the bottoms of her eyelids, and down her cheeks. When her left thumb came close to the corner of Madoka's lips, it stopped there.

This wasn't the same Madoka from her past lives, she knew that. In some of her past lives, Madoka actually did love her in return, and it was ok to touch her lips, and kiss her there. This wasn't one of those Madokas; so wouldn't it be wrong to try and do it now? She looked so much like those other Madokas, though, and she really was the same person after all. It's just their interactions with each other over the last few days were different enough from the past lives that this Madoka had a different opinion of her.

Homura's hand pulled down on Madoka's chin, gently forcing her lips apart. Her other hand went around to the back of her head and stroked her hair. This was Madoka, and Madoka loved her. Homura knew she did, because after reliving the same months so many times, she knew Madoka better than Madoka knew herself. If Madoka loved her in just one life, then didn't that mean she would always love her? Even if she didn't know it, Madoka really _was_ hers; so it really wasn't so bad. Was it?

Homura leaned forward, her long dark hair fell over Madoka's face. She got close enough that she could feel Madoka's breath against her own lips, and she started blushing. She felt an eagerness to close the short distance that was now between them. _Is this okay?_

Madoka shook her head back and forth, as it was her only means of resistance. "Homura! No, no, stop," she said it softly, not with any kind of resentment as Homura might have expected. She fidgeted around beneath her captor, not actually accomplishing anything as she pulled against her bindings. Homura pulled back a little, and looked at her. Her hair was still falling over Madoka's face, and her right hand dropped away. Her other hand held lightly to the back of her head. Powerless to stop her, Madoka just stared at her captor with emotional eyes, her breathing was unsteady and her heart fluttered in her chest. "Y-you can't... just…" She wasn't sure what words to use, but Homura seemed to understand.

She rose herself up fully, her hand slowly fell away from the back of Madoka's head, and she sat up straight with both arms at her sides. Her legs were still straddled around Madoka's waist, and she could feel the motion of her captive's breathing beneath her. Homura stared forward with a sad distance in her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" she said slowly. "This is... hard for me. I know you have only known me for a few days, so this seems strange… But I've known you so much longer." Her eyelids flickered as she stared forward. As she continued to speak, her voice wavered, "I know you _so well_." She put a hand to her face to hide the fact that tears were forcing themselves from the corners of her eyes.

"Y-you had something important to do? Right?" Madoka said quickly. The quick dismissal felt crushing to Homura.

Her head turned slowly, and she set her watery eyes upon the clock she had set on the dresser. "That's right…" she said in almost a whisper. Then she leaned toward the nightstand to grab the tape and the cloth she had brought in to gag Madoka with. When she brought the cloth to Madoka's mouth, it opened without any complaint.

"Please don't hate me for this."

"I don't," she shook her head. "I don't hate you." Was she being sincere? Or saying it out of fear? Or was it just to be nice?... Homura didn't know.

"Thank you," Homura said. "You are too kind." And then she pushed the cloth against Madoka's lips and stuffed it inside her mouth. She put her free hand around the back of Madoka's head, and held her hair back as she lifted it, and started wrapping tape around. She wrapped it around five times before she was done, then set the tape back by the night stand. She took a few moments to straighten her captive's hair, and to look at her. "I'd never do anything to hurt you," Homura said, still running her fingers through the pink hair. Madoka, now stripped of speech, just stared at her with wide eyes and nodded agreeably.

Homura wanted to hug her, and just lay on top of her and feel the motion of her breathing, but she knew she had to go now. More than that, she didn't know whether or not Madoka would be comfortable with anything like that.

She lifted her legs up and climbed off the bed. As she stood by the bedside she took another moment to stare down at her adorable little prisoner. Madoka just stared back at her with wide confused eyes. "I won't be gone long," she said, brushing her fingers along Madoka's cheek. Madoka's eyes rolled away with a sigh, but Homura's face softened at this. Then, she leaned in, and kissed Madoka on the cheek. A soft moan came through the gag, and Madoka's fists balled up, weakly pulling against the rope that bound them; it was a pitiful attempt to move away. "I know how you must feel about this, but you're going to be safe. I have you now, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." The backs of her knuckles brushed across the spot she had just kissed. Then she turned to leave the room.

After shutting the door, she leaned her back against it for a moment and let out a sigh of relief. Madoka may or may not hate her for what she was putting her through; but at least while she was tied up like that she would be safe, and Homura's mind could be at ease.

 **II**

Mami had taken Sayaka to an empty field somewhere on the outskirts of the city where Sayaka could take a first run at practising her magic. The grass was high, past their ankles, with some patches of brown crabgrass and tall white dandelions spotting what was otherwise dark green.

Sayaka briefly reflected on how she and Madoka once thought if they could blow all the petals off a dandelion at once, a wish would be granted. She was maybe six years old when she made this wish: _"I wish me and Madoka could live together and be like sisters!"_ A few weeks after that, her parents had struck some kind of big business deal that required them to travel for long periods at a time. They had gotten Madoka's parents to agree to watch her while they were away, and for years after that Sayaka thought that her wish had actually come true. As she got older, she stopped believing in magic and wishes, though, and thought that it was just a coincidence.

Now, it turned out that magic and wishes really were real after all. _Who knows,_ Sayaka thought as she reached down, _maybe you really can get wishes granted this way as well._ She plucked one of the dandelions out of the ground, and held it close to her lips. _Madoka, I'm sorry I didn't use my real wish to save you. I think you would understand. But, I'm still going to rescue you! I promise I will!_

She pulled in a deep breath and closed her eyes. _I wish for Madoka to be safe, and for me and Mami to be able to rescue her soon!_ She then blew out with all of her strength. The white petals tearing away from the force of her breath and danced through the air until they caught themselves on a gust of wind that spread them all throughout the empty field. Sayaka looked at the mostly naked stem that she now held, and frowned when she saw there were still a few small white petals stuck to its bulb.

"This is a pretty good area to get some practise in," Mami explained, gesturing around. "No one ever comes by here, and we can see far enough in all directions we'll know when someone is coming. This is where I came to practise when I first became a Magical Girl."

Sayaka dropped the dandelion stem and started looking around. The field they were in ended in a river which had a bridge bowing over it. On one side of the bridge she could see the cityscape walls of Mitakihara. On the other side, the road continued over the horizon and would eventually lead to Kazamino.

They couldn't see it, but aside from the steady stream of traffic running over the bridge, there was a girl with long red hair leaning over the guide rail and spying on them using her magically enhanced eyes.

"Alright," Mami said, "First thing you should do is transform. Just like when you changed your SoulGem, just think about it and it should happen."

Sayaka put her hand to her SoulGem earring, and concentrated for a moment. She really didn't have to think all that hard, it was like she just instinctively knew how to make it happen, and next thing she knew she was being covered by light. Looking down at herself during the process, she blushed, not realizing her current clothing would start to disappear. She was relieved though, when the process was done, and she had a new set of clothes. She might have further complained about the fact this new outfit was a tad revealing, but she was too caught up in thinking how cool it was to worry about it.

"Woh, this is awesome!" she said, laughing as she spun around in a quick pirouette.

Mami smirked in response. "Alright, now just keep reaching for your magic and see what else you can do."

"Oh, alright…" Sayaka thought for a moment, then held out her right hand. She didn't know why, she just thought that felt right. She felt for the magic inside herself, then the next thing she knew a blue glowing light appeared around her hand until it started to become solid and take form. She closed her her hand around it and it took the shape of a sword. When the light disappeared she held the sword in front of her and stared at it, awestruck.

"Very good," Mami complimented her, smiling as she watched Sayaka waving the sword around in the air like a child playing with a new toy.

Sayaka held out her other hand, and did the same thing, the process was faster the second time and she was now holding a sword in each hand.

Mami made one of her muskets appear and pointed it at Sayaka. She winked and said, "Now let's get you some practising using those things."

Sayaka grinned, taking a battle ready. "Heh, alright!"

They spent the next couple hours training. Mami gave Sayaka practise by sending some of her ribbons after her, which Sayaka had to try and cut before they managed to bind her. When she had a sword in each hand she had more trouble with it; and Mami suggested just practising with one sword for now untill she got better.

Later on in the training session Sayaka started making multiple swords appear at one time in a circle around her. She found that all it took was a flick of her wrist at the hilt of a sword to send it flying anywhere she wanted it to go, which she could use as a long ranged attack.

After a while Mami commanded the contest to a stop. Sayaka was out of breath at this point, but grinning eagerly. "That's enough of this for now. It is a good idea to practise, but also be aware you are using up magic by doing this." She winked. "You might want to save some for the witches."

"Heh, yeah I guess you're right." Sayaka snapped her fingers and the five swords that surrounded her vanished with a flash of light. Her grin deepened, thinking how cool that must have looked. "Actually, I got something I need to do today anyway. I wanted to go check on Kyosuke at the hospital, you know, to see if the wish actually worked."

"Don't worry, I'm sure the wish did work. We should probably go out on your first patrol when you are done there, though. I can show you a few tricks to tracking down witches while we are out too."

"Alright sounds good. Want to come with me to the hospital? I won't be long, and then we can get started right away."

 **III**

Homura took a bus downtown, and it was just a short walk to Madoka's house from where she got off. There was still a bit of dampness on the city streets from last night's rain storm, and the air held the smell of rainwater. She looked around the neighborhood, reflecting on how normal the rest of the world seemed to stay. No matter how strange or tragic her own existence had become, everyone else in the world went along with their normal lives, blissfully unaware that they too were stuck inside her loop. Reliving their lives, dying over and over again every time Walpurgisnacht hit the town, and Homura was the only one who remembered any of it.

She passed by a group of kids playing basketball, and she turned to speak to them. "Hey you, in the blue shirt." The kid wearing the blue shirt stopped playing and looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Nevermind, it's nothing," she said, and continued walking. The kid just shrugged and resumed his game. There was no way he would have known that Homura had interrupted his timeline just enough to stop him from falling down and breaking his ankle; which would have happened in about five seconds. She looked back, and saw him still on his feet, and for some reason it made her feel depressed. A good number of her past lives had been spent stalking Madoka. Therefore, she knew the events that took place on this street just a little too well, and it was like a reminder of all her countless failures.

She walked behind a car and looked around to make sure no one could see her, then ducked down and transformed. She stopped time as soon as the transformation was complete then walked the rest of the way to Madoka's house unseen. When she arrived, Madoka's mother was outside and heading down the walkway, just a few feet from the mailbox.

 _Just in time,_ Homura thought. She walked up to the mailbox and dropped Madoka's letter inside, passing by just a few feet in front of Junko Kaname. She stopped, and looked at the woman for a moment; her eyes were heavy with sadness. Normally this woman was full of strength and vigor, but right now she looked worse than Homura had ever seen her before. It made her feel bad, knowing that it was because her daughter was missing. Homura hoped this letter would make her feel at least a little better. Junko Kaname was always kind to her, and she didn't like what she was putting Madoka's family through. Although, she knew it had to be done.

She went down the street, and hid behind a light post. She made sure no one was in sight and resumed time, also transforming out of her Magical Girl attire. She peeked out from behind the light post, and watched Junko slog over to the mailbox with slow heavy steps. She pulled out a hand full of mail, and started walking back towards the house. She flipped through the envelops for a moment, then stopped. All the mail fell from her hands and landed on the ground by her feet. A gust of wind started blowing the lighter pieces of mail away, but Junko didn't seem to take any notice. She stared hard at the single piece of paper, reading it, then quickly ran inside, leaving the rest of the mail behind.

Homura sighed, not knowing if that really would make her feel any better or not, but hoping it would at least be a small comfort. She was thinking maybe she should arrange for Madoka to make a phone call soon. Perhaps that would put her own mind at ease as well, but she would have to make absolute certain Madoka understood she couldn't say anything about where she was or what was happening.

She continued down the street. Now she had to go to the hospital where the sweets witch would be hatching soon, and hopefully save Mami's life.


	23. Cheesecake is the secret to happiness!

**Chapter 23**

 **I**

"It's almost ready!" The young girl said to herself, rocking back and forth on her heels as she kneeled in front of the oven, watching her cheesecake through a small glass window. The kitchen counters were a mess, covered in flour and used utensils with gooey cheesecake batter all over them.

When the oven let out its high pitched ding, she instantly got up and pulled the door open. She reached inside, nearly forgetting how hot the pan would be, but stopped herself just before actually grabbing it. She quickly slipped on the oven mitts she had left next to the oven, and then proceeded to pull the cake out.

Its outer layer had turned into a nice golden brown crust, except for that there was a single crack in the surface that revealed a soft inside which was still bubbling. She hopped it would be good. She had never baked a cheesecake on her own before, but she was sure she followed her mother's recipe exactly.

Mama once told her that eating good cake was the secret to happiness, and whenever Nagisa had a bad day that's exactly how her mother would cheer her up. Nagisa's favorite kind of cake of all was cheesecake, so she would always request it if her mother was in the baking mood. "You're so like me," Mama once commented, with a smile. "Cheesecake is my favorite to, you know."

Lately, her mother had been very sick. She was in the hospital for two full months, and she seemed to be getting worse and worse every time Nagisa went to visit her. Usually, her mother was very hopeful, and would try to put on a smile. Even though all her hair was gone and her voice had become thick and raspy, she tried her best to assure her daughter that she was happy.

Last time Nagisa went to visit her was different, however. Mama didn't smile at all, and barely said a word. Except, when Nagisa found herself on the verge of tears, her mother grabbed onto her with a weak hand. She looked at her daughter with dark, pain stricken eyes, and tried to smile as her lips parted and croaked out the words, " _It's….O….K…"_

Although Mama tried to pretend she was happy, Nagisa could see that she clearly was not. That's why, as soon as she was finished with school the next day, she came right home and started baking a cheesecake. Eating good cake was the secret to happiness, so she thought if she could bake a cake for Mama it would put a smile back on her face. She just hoped she did it right. She helped her mother many times before, so she thought she did everything right, and it certainly looked and smelled good. Either way, this was the first time she had ever done it on her own, and she felt very prideful of it for that reason.

She let it sit for a while before cutting it up into squares and storing them in a plastic bin. Then, she carefully wrapped it up in a handkerchief and went out the front door. Her aunt who she had been staying with would be mad at her for going all the way to the hospital alone, but Nagisa didn't care. She knew it was important for her mother to get the cheesecake right away, and she thought her aunt was just being overprotective by not allowing her to go anywhere on her own. She was already eleven years old, after all, and could find her way around town just fine on her own.

When she arrived at the hospital, she checked in with the receptionist and went right up to her mother's room. She peeked her head inside, and saw Mama laying on her bed. There was a small tube taped to her chin, which made a low hissing sound as it blew a stream of fresh air into her mouth. There was a machine next to the bed which monitored her heart rate and let out a low beep every few seconds.

 _Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-_

"Hey, Mama," Nagisa said, as she came through the door. She was careful to shut it behind herself quietly. "Are you sleeping?" she asked softly, as she approached the bed. She saw that her mother's eyes were closed, so she just set the cake on the stand beside her and pulled up a chair. She knew it was important for her mother to get her rest, so it would be bad to wake her, but Nagisa did hope she would wake up soon.

 **II**

Homura sat on a bench down the street from the hospital, positioned where she could see the spot where the sweets witch usually hatched, but she was still far enough away that she wouldn't be too conspicuous. Despite all the delays, she still managed to get here with plenty of time to spare, and now she just had to wait.

She bought a newspaper from a corner store on her way here, and held it in front of her face as a means to hide herself for when Sayaka and Mami showed up. It would be best if they never showed up at all, which was a possibility since this timeline had already been altered so much. If that were the case, Homura would be able to just take care of the witch herself without any additional problems.

But of course, just as she was thinking that, she saw both Sayaka and Mami come around the corner and approach the front entrance of the hospital. _Great…_ She thought. If it were just Sayaka, then maybe while she was busy with her _boyfriend_ up on the second floor she wouldn't notice that a witch had been hatched. There was no chance that Mami would miss it, however, so it was almost a guarantee that Homura was going to have to confront her. She just hoped that she could make her listen to reason, which was usually a pretty rare outcome. It was even more unlikely since they had already gotten off on the wrong foot in this timeline.

For now though, all she could do is sit and wait. The sweets witch would be hatching soon...

 **III**

Mama's eyes opened, and her head turned very slowly towards Nagisa. "Mama! you're awake!" then she quickly lowered her voice, remembering that she wasn't suppose to be too loud. "How are you feeling today?" she asked cautiously.

She looked terrible. Her condition had steadily been getting worse and worse over the last couple of months, and she was now to the point that she barely looked anything like her former self. At first she was able to make jokes, commenting on how silly she must look because of her bald head, or jokingly complaining about all the machinery around her that was hooked up to her body. In spite of the bad situation she was in, she was always able to make light of it, and put a smile on her daughter's face.

There was nothing funny about how she looked now, however. There were deep black circles around her eyes, and her skin held tight to her cheekbones. She looked like a skeleton, Nagisa thought, and instantly felt guilty for thinking something like that. Mama's lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but nothing but a soft croaking sound came out. Her already gaunt and sickly eyes filled with even more sadness, when she realized she couldn't even say hello to her daughter.

Nagisa smiled anyway, and put a hand on her mother's arm. "Mama, I got a present for you." She then unwrapped the cloth around the cheesecake and took the lid off. The smell of the cake instantly filled the room. Nagisa smiled, "I made it all by myself! Just the way you showed me." She had tied a couple small plates in with the handkerchief and set them on the table. She carefully took two slices of cake out of the bin and set one on each plate "You said eating good cake is the secret to happiness. So I made this so you would feel better."

Despite the pain she was in, that at least was enough to make her lips curve up into a very slight smile. Nagisa held the plate out to her mother, but quickly realized she was too weak to take it herself. "Here I'll help you." She took one of the plastic forks she stored in her pocket, and scooped up a bite of cheesecake.

She held it up to her mother's lips, and her jaw trembled as she opened her mouth very slightly. Nagisa couldn't help but start to feel tears touching the corner of her eyelids. "I hope it's good!" she said, moving the cake forward even more.

Her mother's head started to shake with the effort of opening her mouth, but she was unable to get it open more than a few centimeters, in spite of the cake being right in front of her. "Come on, just one bite," Nagisa pressed on, now feeling warm tears finally force their way through and roll down her cheeks. The cake would make mama feel better, she knew it would, if she could just take one bite...

"Come on _mama_!" her voice cracked.

Mama's jaw continued shaking, and her tongue came out very slightly, just barely touching the food that was in front of her.

Nagisa didn't notice it, but the heart monitor next to the bed started beeping faster and faster. "Just one bite!" she said again, then, all of a sudden, Mama's body went completely limp and her eyes closed, her face fell back onto the pillow looking as if she were going back to sleep. "Mama? Mama!"

 _Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-_

Nagisa dropped the fork and grabbed her mother by the shoulders and started shaking her. The beeping increased its pace to several beeps per second as her daughter shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Mama, what are you doing? Wake up! Wake up!"

 _Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep-beeeeeeeeee-_

"Mama!" Nagisa screamed, "I made it myself! I did it all by myself! You have to try it! It'll help you! I know it will! MAMA!"

Then she felt someone grab her and start pulling her away. "No! What are you doing?" she screamed at the doctor. "Let me go! She needs it!" She watched her mother get further and further away as she was pulled out of the room, and more doctors gathered around the bedside and started doing things to her.

Once Nagisa was out in the hall, the doctor said something to her, but she didn't hear a word he said. He then quickly went back inside and shut the door behind himself. Nagisa went right for the door to try and follow him back in, but it was locked. "What are you doing!" she screamed again, "She needs the cake! Let me give it to her!" She started banging on the door. "Please! I just want to eat cake with Mama!" She continued banging on the door, but her blows eventually got softer and softer "I just wanted to…" she fell down to her knees, and stared at the base of the doorway. "I just wanna eat cake with mama one more time… That's all…" She spoke with a low wavering voice. Her face was wet with fresh tears rolling freely from the corners of her eyes. "That's all," she said again, before closing her eyes and letting her head fall forward to lean against the door. "I just wish I could eat cake with her…"

Then, she heard a voice. " _Is that really a wish that you would want granted?"_

 **III**

Sayaka peaked her head into Kyousuke's room. "Hey Kyousuke! What's up?" She smiled as she came through the door, Mami followed in right behind her.

"Sayaka! You're not going to believe this!" he said right away, looking at her with more excitement in his eyes than she had seen in months.

"Woh, what's got you so fired up?" she asked, grinning.

"Look!" He held his hand up and started moving his fingers around freely. "My hand! It's working!"

"What? No way!" Sayaka ran over to him, feeling a bit guilty for faking the surprise, but she didn't have to fake the excitement she was feeling for him at least. "You mean, like, it's totally better?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so," he said, examining it and watching his own fingers move around. "I don't know how, I just woke up this morning, and it felt great. Even my legs feel better, although I still need to go through physical therapy to get use to using them again."

"Wow, that's great!" Sayaka said, "But, it's a bit confusing, do the doctors have any idea how it happened?"

"They have no idea. The best answer I've gotten so far is that I must have had ' _multipathway-nerve-damage'_ , that somehow managed to heal itself... Or something like that." He laughed. "I don't really get it, but who cares?"

Sayaka just grinned. It probably would be better not to tell him the truth, though she wished that she could. "Oh, I'm sorry," Sayaka said, just remembering Mami was there. "This is Mami Tomoe, she goes to our school."

"Pleased to meet you," she said with a bow.

"Yeah same," he said back, though he was still distracted by watching his hand as he stretched and bent his fingers.

Then, a middle aged woman came through the door, holding a violin case. "Oh, hello Sayaka," she said; it was Kyousuke's mother. She looked over to Mami, "And…"

"Mami Tomoe." She bowed. "Pleased to meet you."

"Heh, looks like you're just in time," Kyosuke said to Sayaka as his mother laid the case down on the bedside. "Thanks for getting this for me."

"Of course," his mom said, giving him a smile. "I couldn't bare to get rid of it, even though you said you didn't want it anymore."

He opened the case, and looked inside as if he had just discovered a chest full of treasure. He slowly reached inside and pulled out the violin, and then just held it and stared at it for a while. "I… I Hope I'm still able to do this…" he said, his voice becoming distant.

Sayaka moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it will sound great."

 **IV**

"What… are you?" Nagisa asked the strange creature. Was it a cat? A rabbit? Something else? She had never seen anything like it before. What was even weirder is it could TALK!

"I'm Kyubey!" it said, a cheery tone to its voice. It was strange, its mouth didn't have to move in order for it to speak, and there was something weird about its face too. Even animals usually had facial expressions, but this thing did not. Despite the cheery tone in its voice, its face remained completely placid. The lack of any kind of emotion made the creature seem rather strange and alien.

"You're a… Kyubey?" she asked. She was sitting on the tiled floor with her legs folded underneath her, she was still right outside her mother's room but had momentarily forgotten about the tragic event that had just taken place.

"Not _A_ Kyubey, just _Kyubey_! That's my name."

"I see…" She looked at him curiously, reaching out one of her hands and cautiously tugging on one of his ears. He didn't seem to mind, as he didn't react at all to what she was doing.

"Anyway, believe it or not, I have the power to grant wishes! I heard what you were saying a moment ago, so I came here to help you out!"

"What? Really?" she asked, leaning forward and looking at him more seriously. "You can really do that sort of a thing?"

"Certainly, all you have to do is make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl!"

"A Magical Girl? What's that?"

"In exchange for having a wish granted, I will turn you into a Magical Girl, and from this day forth it will become your duty to fight witches and protect the world!" His bushy tail wagged once. "Don't worry though, you have more than enough potential as a Magical Girl, so I'm sure you will do just fine."

Nagisa didn't really get everything he was saying, his explanation about Magical Girls and witches was rather vague, but she did understand one thing: she could have a wish granted! "So… If I were to wish to eat cake with Mama, you could grant that wish?"

"Absolutely!" he said, his tail wagged again, and his beady little red eyes gleamed as he stared at her. "Is that the wish you want? Just say it and I will make it come true!"

Nagisa hoped this was really true. If she could eat cake with Mama, then Mama would smile again, and if Mama started smiling again she would start to get better! "Alright." She took a deep breath, deciding there was no need to think about this decision. Mama needed her, so she had to help in any way she could! "I wish…"

 **V**

Homura disposed of the newspaper in a trashcan, knowing the sweets witch would hatch very soon. If she was quick, perhaps she could dispose of the witch before Mami entered the labyrinth herself. Homura had fought this witch enough times in the past she was more than confident in her ability against it. She would charge in, take down the familiars, then shoot that little pink doll right in its head as it sat upon its throne. Then, she would wait for its second form to reveal itself, and stand there patiently and wait for it to bare its teeth down upon her. Just a moment before making its attack, Homura would stop time and drop a pipebomb in its mouth, collect the GriefSeed, and escape before Mami and Sayaka had a chance to confront her. That's how she hoped it would work out, anyway.

 _Just a little longer…_

She knew Mami wouldn't make it to the end of the timeline. Eventually, Mami would learn the truth about Magical Girls and witches, and she would be a lost cause at that point. However, it would be worth saving her for now and delaying her inevitable demise, because Homura knew from past lives that Sayaka tended to last longer if she had Mami to guide her through her early stages as a Magical Girl. In the end, she might not be able to save Sayaka Miki, but for Madoka's sake she knew she had to at least try.

She waited...

She checked the clock that was stationed just above the entrance to the hospital.

Any second now…

After waiting another minute she started to look around curiously. In all of her past lives the witch had been pretty consistent about hatching at quarter-till-four, but as she watched the minute hand tick another minute away she started to get worried.

Where was it? Did it hatch somewhere else? She quickly ran around to the side of the building, nothing there, and she ran back to where she originally started waiting. Was it INSIDE the hospital this time? She pulled out her SoulGem and tried to sense its presence. No… it hadn't hatched yet.

She ran back down the street to hide, not wanting to risk Mami and Sayaka walking outside and finding her, and she continued to stake out the front entrance of the hospital.

Another five minutes passed. The witch DEFINITELY should have hatched by now!

 _What the hell's going on?_


	24. Kind of like a miracle, or something

**Chapter 24**

 **I**

"I wish for me and mom to eat..." She stopped talking and looked down the hall "Um... can you wait a second?"

Kyubey's head turned as he watched her get up and start walking down the hall "Where are you going?" he asked, before padding along after her. "Don't you want to wish to eat cheesecake with your mother?"

"I do! Just wait a sec."

She could hear music playing - it sounded like a violin. There was a weird kid in the hospital room just a few doors down who loved classical music, and if Nagisa remembered correctly, he said that he use to play the violin before his accident.

Over the last few months Nagisa had spent a good amount of time here in the hospital, so she was fairly familiar with most of the people here. She had been particularly interested in that boy because she never saw anyone else his age here before, and it's for that reason she started visiting him and talking to him from time to time.

He was nice, but he had a really weird taste in music, which is why she often referred to him as _the weird kid_. He let her listen to his CD player once before and she thought it was really boring. Music should be fast and exciting! His music was pretty, but it was so _boring_! Nagisa thought it sounded like something only really old people would listen to. She liked him anyway, he seemed like a nice person, and it was nice to have someone at least a little closer to her own age to talk to when she was stuck waiting around the hospital.

When she heard the violin, it made her think of him. She was thinking if her cheesecake could help Mama, maybe it could help him out too. That's why, before she made her wish, she just wanted to invite him to come eat cake with her and Mama. Cheesecake was always good, but eating it with friends made it even better! Maybe she could even invite some of the nurses who had been nice to her as well, and have a little party. She thought that would be fun for Mama too.

As she got closer, she realized the violin was coming from the weird kid's room, and her first thought was that he must have gotten a new radio or something. _Great,_ she thought, _now he is going to force everyone to listen to that boring music!_ It was okay, though, she wouldn't change her mind about inviting him to the party just over something like that.

She went through his doorway, and her eyes widened with surprise. It wasn't a radio that was playing, it was the weird kid himself! He held a violin in his hands, his eyes were closed, and his body rocked back and forth with the slow rhythm of the music he was creating.

 **II**

When the song was over, Kyosuke set his violin to the side, and the room filled with clapping. He felt a tear softly stinging the corner of his eye. He never thought that he would be able to feel this kind of happiness again. "Thanks, everyone," he said, then noticed Nagisa standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey Nagisa! Look." He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers around.

"Hey, weird kid!" Nagisa said, coming into the room. She was teasing him, but looked seriously at what he was doing with his hand. She thought that his body had been paralyzed and he shouldn't be able to move his hand like that. Moreover, she thought actually playing an instrument was suppose to be way beyond him.

"I asked you to stop calling me that..." Kyosuke sighed. "Besides, I'm three years older than you, why are you calling me _kid_?"

"Who is this?" Sayaka asked Kyosuke.

"Oh, sorry. This is Nagisa, her mother is staying in the room a few doors down," Kyosuke explained. "And Nagisa, this is my friend Sayaka who I told you about, and her friend Mami."

"Oh, so you're Sayaka?" Nagisa asked. "You're the girl who likes that boring music too?"

"Boring music?" Sayaka scratched the back of her head and grinned humorously, not sure what to make of this girl. "Well, I guess it's not for everyone..." then she felt Mami tug on her sleeve and point to the doorway. Kyubey had just padded into the room right after Nagisa and stationed himself just inside the threshold.

"Anyway, how are you able to do that with your hands?" Nagisa asked. "I thought you said you were paralyzed."

"No one really knows yet," Kyosuke said, staring at his hand and moving his fingers around more. "I guess you could say it was kind of like a miracle, or something..." His words trailed off as he looked over to Sayaka, remembering what she had said to him the day before. Sayaka noticed the way he was looking at her, and she blushed.

His mother saw this, then walked to the other side of the room. "I was just going down to the cafeteria, Nagisa would you like to join me? And, Mami was it? You're new here right? Why don't I show you around a bit?"

"Oh, sure, that would be lovely," Mami said with a smile, understanding that Sayaka and Kyosuke should be left alone for a little while.

"Huh? But I wanted to..." Nagisa started, but Kyosuke's mother put her hand on the young girl's shoulder and led her out the door. Kyubey moved to the side to avoid being stepped on, and then turned to follow his new client as she was led out the door.

Before leaving, Mami looked back to Sayaka and spoke telepathically. _"I'll get to the bottom of this,"_ she said, referring to Kyubey and Nagisa. _"I'll let you know what's going on."_

Sayaka gave her a nod, and then went to take a seat by Kyosuke's bedside.

Before being led too far down the hall, Nagisa broke away from Kyosuke's mother. "Oh sorry, just one sec, okay? I forgot to ask Kyosuke something." Kyosuke's mother started to tell her to just be quick, but Nagisa was already gliding down the hall. She stuck her head into Kyosuke's room. "Hey, I'm throwing a party in my mom's room soon! I made a cheesecake and everything! You're welcome to come! You too, Sayaka."

"Um, sure, that sounds nice," said Sayaka.

"Yeah, thanks! We'll be there," Kyosuke agreed.

 **III**

Kyoko tailed Mami and Sayaka all the way back to the hospital and hid around a corner down the street. She waited for a little while, hoping they wouldn't be too long, but after some time passed she finally got bored. She figured she learned all she needed to about them for now. She was hoping to find out where the rookie lived, but supposed it didn't really matter. She was fairly certain of the general area, at least, and figured that would be enough for her purposes.

She was preparing to put an end to her stakeout for the day so she could go get something to eat, but just before she would have turned away she noticed someone - It was Homura!

Kyoko quickly ducked back behind the corner before she was seen, then cautiously peeked back out. It was Homura, alright. That long black hair wasn't easy to mistake. What was she doing here, though? Was she also stalking the other two Magical Girls?

Kyoko watched as Homura paced around in front of the hospital. She kept glancing up at the clock stationed above the front entrance, and at one point she pulled out her SoulGem and watched its glow as she crept around to the side of the building. Was she looking for a witch? Kyoko didn't know what the deal was, but figured this was her lucky day. She thought it would take weeks to track down the black haired Magical Girl, but now all she would have to do is start tailing her, and hopefully she would lead her right back to her hideout where she was keeping her pet girl locked up.

 **IV**

As Kyosuke's mother led them through the hallway, she explained a few random things about the hospital to Mami, but Mami listened with only half a mind. She glanced down to Kyubey who was paddling along right behind their group; he would be invisible to everyone except for Mami and Nagisa right now.

 _'Nagisa, is there anywhere we can talk privately?'_ Mami asked her telepathically.

Nagisa jumped, a bit startled, and Mami quickly explained _'Kyubey can transfer our thoughts to each other so we can speak telepathically. Since he is following you around I assume you can see him, is that correct?'_

"Um..." Nagisa spoke aloud, feeling a bit befuddled by having this girl speak directly into her head.

 _'Just think about what you want to say, and I'll be able to hear it,'_ Mami explained.

 _'Wait... Did she just say she knows Kyubey?'_ Nagisa thought.

 _'Yes I do,'_ Mami smiled. _'I've actually known him for a long time.'_

Nagisa flinched back again. _'Woah! What! The girl with the big chest totally just read my thoughts!'_

Mami blushed and smiled a bit awkwardly. _'I'm not reading your thoughts, you're sending them to me... um... you'll get used to it… Listen, is there somewhere we can talk privately?'_

"Nagisa? Are you alright?" Kyosuke's mother asked. "You seem a bit distracted all of a sudden."

"Um, yeah, I'm okay!" Nagisa laughed. "Actually, I was just thinking I wanted to show Mami the roof. There's a really good view from up there so..." She turned to Mami. "Want to go?"

"Sure, that sounds lovely," Mami said with a smile.

"Now, Nagisa you shouldn't force people into things like that."

"Whhaat? But she says she wants to go!" Nagisa complained.

"Yes, it's really all right," Mami assured her. "I'd love to see it."

"Oh, well alright then. Have fun," Kyosuke's mother said, but Nagisa had already grabbed onto Mami's hand and was leading her down the hall.

 **V**

"Kyubey, would you mind transmitting this conversation over to Sayaka?" Mami asked.

"Of course. She is not too far away so that would be no trouble at all," Kyubey answered.

Nagisa looked between Mami and Kyubey with wide curious eyes and one finger held to the side of her mouth. After a moment, Mami asked, "Sayaka, can you hear us?"

 _'Um, Mami? Is that you? Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear!'_

"Woah!" Nagisa said out loud. "Is that the weird girl?"

 _'Hey, I heard that! And why am I weird girl?'_

"Because, you like that weird music! And you're weird kid's girlfriend."

 _'Hey, first of all there's nothing wrong with classical music. A-and, second of all, I'm not his girlfriend!'_ There was a pause before Sayaka's thoughts continued to come through again, but it quickly became clear that she wasn't meaning to send them. _'W-well, then again, we do spend a lot of time together. And we have so much in common, I mean, I wouldn't mind being his girlfriend. But does he feel that way about me? I mean, he hasn't ask me out yet, but maybe he is just being shy? Well, we always were close… oh speaking of close, right now we are like, REALLY close. Oh crap! Is he going to make a move? Oh man! I'm totally not ready for this! Am I blushing? AH! he totally just touched my leg! Well, his hand just brushed it on accident, but still...'_

Mami cleared her throat. "Sayaka… We can still hear you."

Nagisa started laughing and singing. "Weird girl and the weird kid, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

 _'Oh what the hell! Get out of my head damn it!'_

"Anyway, Nagisa," Mami gave her a smile. "Were you planning to make a contract with Kyubey here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! He says he can grant a wish for me… um… how do you know Kyubey anyway?"

"Well, I'm a Magical Girl myself. I'm actually a bit of a veteran, I've been doing this for two years now. Sayaka is also a Magical Girl but she contracted only yesterday. Before you make a contract yourself, I just wanted to make sure you understand that being a Magical Girl is a dangerous lifestyle."

"It is?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes, did Kyubey explain to you that you would have to start fighting witches?" Mami looked at her very serious. "The truth is, many Magical Girl's die at a young age in their battles against witches, so you have to be sure that whatever wish you make is something you are willing to put your life on the line for. Understand?"

"Oh… I see, but… I really do need a wish right now."

Mami saw the sad expression that came over Nagisa's face. "What exactly do you need a wish for? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, you see, my mom has been very sick lately. It's getting bad, and the doctors have no idea whats causing it… but…" Tears started to force their way out of the corners of Nagisa's eyes. "I-I overheard my aunt and uncle talking, and they said the doctors are saying she won't make it much longer. Th-that's why I don't have a choice! I need to make this wish for Mama!"

"Oh, you poor dear," Mami said, kneeling down so she could put an arm over Nagisa's shoulder. "Listen, being a Magical Girl can be dangerous, but if you do become one you can team up with Sayaka and I. I've been doing this for a long time so I'll be able to keep you safe while we are fighting witches, and it really won't be so dangerous."

Nagisa let herself be hugged, but her face went red with the effort of holding back the tears. This was the first time she spoke openly about her mother's condition. She supposed because it's the first time she said it herself, and actually acknowledged the fact that her mother was going to die, that it was causing her to break down.

Mama was going to die, and never come back and leave Nagisa all alone with an aunt and uncle who weren't _too_ bad, but they weren't very nice either, and they didn't really care about her the way her mother did. She would die and never come back and Nagisa would never get to cook with her, or tell her about her day, or eat cake with her ever again!

The tears finally came out in full force, and Mami hugged onto her tighter. "Oh, you poor thing," Mami said, squeezing her into her breast. "There there, it's okay." She spoke soothingly, rocking her back and forth and patting her head, trying her best to comfort the poor little girl.

It wasn't just that her mother was dying. There was something else that was making Nagisa cry, something she REALLY didn't want to acknowledge. It had to do with that conversation she overheard between her aunt and uncle. When they were talking about her mother's condition, they didn't sound sad… They didn't exactly sound happy either, but it was almost as if they were waiting for it. Nagisa's young naive mind wasn't able to fully grasp what it meant, but something in their tone of voice just sounded wrong. Something wasn't right. She didn't think they were bad people, and they could be mean sometimes but… but… no, they actually _were_ bad people. They were bad BAD people, and nobody knew it!

Kyubey padded along in front of her. "Your mother's condition has stabilized downstairs, but there is a very low possibility of her lasting more than a couple days. Honestly, it's possible that she could go at any minute, so if you want to make a contract with me, you better do it soon."

Mami shot Kyubey a scolding look. She didn't like it that he was trying to pressure her into a contract while she was in this condition, but at the same time she supposed it was important information to have.

Nagisa pulled away from Mami, and wiped her eyes off on the backs of her sleeves. Nagisa stood in front of Kyubey and nodded, her mouth was frowning and though her face was red and wet there was strength in her eyes. "Kyubey, I'm ready to make my wish." His little red eyes glistened as he stared back at her. "I wish that me and mama can eat chee-" … "Oh, wait a second." She turned back to Mami with a smile. "Hey Mami, I'm throwing a cheesecake party for Mama, I almost forgot to invite you. So you want to come to?"

Mami had a flabbergasted look on her face. "Um… N-Nagisa, dear… What exactly are you planning to wish for?"

"I was going to wish to eat cheese cake with Mama, of course." She blushed and folded her hands behind her back with a proud smile on her face. "I made a cheesecake all by myself today for the first time ever! I wanted to share it with mama, but she was too sick to eat. So that's why I'm going to wish to get to eat the cake with her!"

 _'You've… got to be kidding me…'_ Sayaka thought.

"Hey! Shut up weird girl!" Nagisa shouted. "Don't make fun of my wish! Stupid weird girl!"

"Um… Nagisa, honey," Mami started slowly. "Shouldn't you wish to cure your mom's illness instead?"

"But Mama's sickness is making her sad, and the cheesecake will make her happy. That's why if I wish for her to eat cheesecake it will make her better."

"Um… Nagisa… how should I put this…" Mami spoke calmly. "Listen, you don't know for a fact that the cheesecake will cure your mother, but if you actually wish to cure her it's a guarantee that she will get better. Understand?"

"But, if I do it my way, she will get better AND we can have cheesecake!"

 _'What are you dense?'_

"SHUT UP WEIRD GIRL!" Nagisa shouted, and started stomping on the ground. "Stupid weird girl! You big idiot!"

 _'You're the idiot! If you wish for her to get better, you can still eat the cheesecake with her! You don't need a wish to eat freaking cake!'_

"What do you know! Weird girl! YOU BIG DUMB- um… oh wait…" Nagisa stopped shouting and thought about it for a moment.

Mami smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, but Sayaka's right! I mean, it does make much more sense to just do it that way."

"Um… okay then…" Nagisa stepped towards Kyubey and nodded. Her mouth was frowning and though her face was red and wet there was strength in her eyes. "Kyubey, I'm ready to make my wish!" His little red eyes glistened as he stared back at her. "I wish to cure Mama's sickness!"


	25. Us Magical Girls got to stick together!

**Chapter 25**

 **I**

Madoka's eyes opened and she looked around the room. Everything was dark, and the furnishings which lined the walls stood in tall vertical shapes, casting long wavy shadows on the ground around them. The walls seemed to climb up higher than she could see, and if there was a ceiling, it was lost to a distant fog. She glanced over to the clock Homura had set up, and saw that the numbers were changing at a rapid rate… each digit was cycling from zero to nine in a random order. Was it broken?

 _Great,_ she thought, _now I'll have no idea when Homura is getting back..._

She sighed, and tried to stretch the muscles in her arms; they were starting to feel sore from being held in the same position for so long. When she did, she found an abnormal amount of movement from her left. She quickly looked over and her heart jumped when she saw that the corresponding noose around the bed frame had become loose somehow. She lifted her left hand over her face to verify that it was free, and saw the rope was only lightly looped around her wrist. _How did..._

She could escape!

With one free hand all she had to do was untie herself, and she would be able to get away again. She rolled over onto her side and got her fingers working at the noose around her right wrist... but she stopped. What if this was a test? What if Homura had snuck in while she was sleeping and untied her left hand just to see what she would do?

She looked over to the bedroom door, which was cracked slightly with a thin ray of red light coming in from the other room. What if Homura was standing right behind that door right now? Madoka had sworn to her she wouldn't try to escape again, but if she went back on that, how would Homura react? She had gotten mean last time and tied her up in a way that was painful… What if she got even meaner if she tried to escape again?

Madoka decided to use her free hand to remove the gag, at least. She got her fingers working at it, and once she managed to pull up one ribbon of tape the rest came off rather easily, although it stung her skin as it was removed.

After pulling the wet cloth out of her mouth and tossing it to the side, she called out to the living room, "Homura?" but, there was no response. She watched the red light through the doorway, and thought that she saw a shadow walk by it. "Homura is that you?" She looked back to her right wrist which was still tied, and considered it for a moment, then called out, "I-I'm untying myself now! Um... I'm not trying to run away, or anything!" She started undoing the rope and as an afterthought added, in a small voice, "D-don't be mad..."

Once she was done, she sat with her legs hanging over the side of the bed and massaged her wrists, then got up and started walking towards the door. She stood with her hand on the doorknob, the red light from the other room reflected on her face, and she could hear movement. With a deep breath, she pulled the door open, and was suddenly blinded by the light. She screamed and backed away, but then felt something grab onto her.

She looked at her wrist and saw that a thick green vine had shot forth from the doorway and wrapped around her wrist. She let out a scream, and more vines came out of the doorway, wrapping around her arms, legs, and torso. "HELP!" she screamed as she tried to pull away, but the vines started pulling her in. "No! Someone please help!" she screamed once again, as she got closer and closer to the red light.

There was a sudden flash of red as she was pulled in, and the next thing she knew she was suspended in the air with the vines holding her above something she could describe as a giant venus fly trap, except it had sharp teeth all around it's edges, and in the center there was a long drooling tongue. Madoka screamed and thrashed around against the vines that were holding her, continuing to scream for help with as much power as she could possibly produce from her lungs.

By the monster's feet, she could see those same creatures with the cartoon faces from before. They all held torches and pitchforks and danced around, letting out bouts of that squeaking laughter. "NO! SAVE ME!" Madoka screamed as she was lowered closer and closer to the monster's mouth. "HELP! Someone, PLEASE!" She could feel the warmth of it's tongue as she was lowered into it's mouth, and suddenly it's jaw snapped shut around her.

 _"HRRRAAAAP MWWRRRREE!"_

Madoka woke up, screaming into the gag and thrashing against the ropes that bound her. She was breathing heavily, and it took a moment for her to realize it was just a dream. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at her bindings, then glanced around the room, verifying she was still in the hotel.

She felt a slight burning around her wrists from pulling on the rope too hard. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. When she felt her racing heart slowing down a bit, she glanced over to the clock; It was back to normal, and it read: 04:13.

Homura said four hours, and she left at noon. That meant she should be back any second now, maybe she had even already arrived. Madoka lifted up her head and looked towards the door which was open just a crack. She moved her head to the side as much as she could to try and see into the other room, but couldn't see anything no matter how hard she tried.

What was scaring her is, Homura said four hours at the MOST, and it was already more than four hours. Madoka could still feel the tears rolling down her cheeks as she thought _, Homura, where are you?_

 **II**

Homura became more and more anxious as time continued to pass without the _sweets witch_ making her appearance. She had relived these months a countless number of times, and knew everything that was suppose to happen within a very narrow margin of variability. The sweets witch always appeared here on this day, without fail, but this time it's appearance had already been delayed by over an hour…. something that has _never_ happened before.

She looked at the clock stationed above the hospital's front entrance. She told Madoka she would be home by now, and Madoka was undoubtedly wondering where she was. Poor Madoka... Homura felt bad enough about having to keep her away from her family, and the conditions she had to keep her under, but it seemed like so many little things were going wrong to just keep making the situation worse and worse. She had to put that out of her mind for now though, and focus on the problem at hand.

If she left, and the sweets witch did show up and Mami ended up getting killed by it, then Sayaka's own chances of surviving to Walpurgis Night would drastically be lowered. Homura wanted to rush back to the hotel and be with Madoka, but she didn't know what would happen here if she did.

She didn't know. For the first time in years of repeats, she had no idea what was going to happen next. Too much had been changed, and this timeline was becoming far too abnormal and she felt herself losing control of it. That loss of control scared her, because she was so use to having it.

Then, Mami and Sayaka exited the front door of the hospital, and Homura quickly put the newspaper back up over her face and cautiously peeked over it so she could watch them. There was someone else with them, a small girl with white hair who appeared to be only eleven years old. Who was she? Then, Homura noticed Kyubey walking along with the three girls and an idea occurred to her: Could she be a Magical Girl?

Homura threw the newspaper into a trashcan by the bench she was sitting on, then walked down the street to a phone booth. She ducked down inside it, and from outside a brief flash of light could be seen as she transformed. Once that was complete, she stopped time and exited the phone booth to find a better vantage point to tail them from.

Unknown to Homura, while she was tailing Mami and company, Kyoko was tailing her. Kyoko ducked down when she saw the flash of light, knowing what it meant, then cautiously peeked back out from over the building's ledge. _Crap, where did she go?_ Kyoko thought to herself, as she bit down on a lollipop, crushing it into a dozen pieces inside her mouth.

Her eyes searched the building tops, and saw a spot of black peaking over the top of another building further down the street which the other three girls were walking. Okay, so it seemed Homura was now planning on following the girls who Kyoko was originally following herself. Therefore, she just had to stick with her original plan, but be careful not to be seen by Homura herself. Then, hopefully when Homura was done following the three of them around, she would quit using her little vanishing trick and Kyoko could then continue to follow her back to her hideout normally.

Kyoko wondered about the third girl who was now with them, and the appearance of Kyubey made her nervous. Did he contract _another_ Magical Girl? What was he thinking? This city was already overcrowded as it is. Well, maybe he didn't actually contract her yet, if that was the case then Kyoko thought she might have to persuade the little girl out of making a wish so she didn't end up getting added to her list of problems.

 **III**

"I knew I should have wished to just eat the cake with Mama!" Nagisa complained as she carried the uneaten cake inside its container. "Stupid doctors wouldn't even let me in to see her!"

Sayaka palmed her face as an expression of pure annoyance creeped up on her, but she had given up on arguing semantics with the young girl.

"Don't worry." Mami said with a smile "I'm sure there will be plenty of chances in the future. The doctors are probably just trying to be sure her condition is stable before they allow her to have visitors."

"I guess so…" Nagisa said a bit solemnly.

"Anyway, how far is your aunt's place?" Sayaka asked "We'll walk you back home if you want."

"Um… it's not far, my aunti and uncle have an apartment near the middle school."

"Really?" Mami asked, and her smile brightened, "That's convenient, I actually live in the same area. My apartment is on the second floor of Mitakihouse."

"Oh wow!" Nagisa said, suddenly snapping out of her disappointment about the cake. "Aunti's place is right across the street from there! Um… except… since Mama is going to get better now, I'm probably going to move back to my own home soon."

"Oh, where's that?" Sayaka asked.

"It's… um…" Nagisa put a finger to the side of her face as she thought over how to explain. "You know that big bridge to the north of the city? I live in the neighborhood that's right at the end of that."

"Hey, that's where my other friend from school lives," said Sayaka. "Her name's Hitomi, do you know her?"

"Hmmm… I don't think so."

"Oh, well anyway, that's a pretty ritzy area of town. What do your parents do anyway?" Sayaka asked.

"Um, well my daddy passed away a long time ago… but before that he founded the Mitakihara Dairy Corp."

"The dairy factory, huh…" Sayaka said, palming her face once again. "Well, that explains a few things… W-wait a minute!" She suddenly realized what that meant. "When you say he founded it…"

Nagisa look at her, a bit confused. "He founded it! What's your problem, weird girl?"

"Ah, it's nothing! Never mind!" Sayaka said, waving her hands apologetically. _Holy crap, that means this girl's loaded!_ Mitakihara Dairy Corp was the biggest supplier of dairy products (mainly cheese) in this entire region of Japan. Hitomi's parents were stock brokers, and she is what Sayaka would consider a _richgirl_ , but if what Nagisa just said was true, then that means she's on a whole different level.

As they continued walking to Nagisa's house Mami explained a few things "Since your a Magical Girl now, you're going to have to start collecting GriefSeeds to keep your SoulGem pure."

"GriefSeeds?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes. They are something that witches drop after we defeat them." Mami revealed her SoulGem and showed it to Nagisa. "See how there is a bit of fog inside my gem? That's from using magic. As you use magic, more fog will appear inside your gem. Also, it will naturally start to appear over time, that's why we need to collect GriefSeeds in order to purify them."

"I see…" Nagisa said, looking at Mami's gem curiously. Then, she took out her own SoulGem, looked at it, and then held it up. "Mine doesn't have any fog yet! Um… Is getting GriefSeeds hard?"

Mami smiled. "It can be, but with the three of us working together you shouldn't have any trouble."

"Yup," Sayaka laughed. "Us Magical Girls have to stick together!"

"With you, it might be a little tricky, though," Mami continued. "Considering your age, it might be difficult to explain where you are going when we have to go out on witch hunts together."

Nagisa waved her hand carelessly. "Don't worry about that!" she said with a smile. "I'm a really good liar!"

Sayaka palmed her face... again... "You shouldn't brag about it like that..."

"Anyway, this is my aunti's apartment building," Nagisa said, then pointed across the street to Mami's. "So you live right over there?"

"Yup, that's right," she said with a smile. "Since we are so close, we should be able to speak telepathically when we are both home. That should make planning witch hunts a little easier, at least until you and your mother move back to your own home."

"Haha, yup!" Nagisa said, smiling brightly. "Anyway, thanks for walking with me! I'll-"

"NAGISA!" Suddenly a thin middle aged woman with glasses grabbed Nagisa by her shoulder and pulled her back a few steps. "Where have you been!" she shouted at her as she forced Nagisa to turn around and face her.

Nagisa's head bowed down slightly as she looked up through the tops of her eyes and glared at the woman. "I just went to visit Mama," she said, with a pouting tone to her voice.

"I told you not to go off by yourself like that!" the woman said sternly.

"B-but I wasn't alone!" Nagisa said quickly. "I was with my new friends, Sayaka and Mami!"

Sayaka and Mami just stood there awkwardly as the woman held Nagisa by the shoulder with a firm grip. She looked them up and down with a sharp look in her eyes, then bowed her head. "Thank you for taking care of my ignorant niece," she said. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble for you."

"No, no!" Sayaka said waving her hands. "Not at all! Seriously!"

"Really, she was a pleasure to be with," Mami assured her. "She was no trouble at all!"

"Apologize to them," her aunt said, using her grip on Nagisa's shoulder to force her to bow.

"T-that's really not…" Sayaka started.

Nagisa looked up at them from her forced bowing posture with a deep frown on her face. "S-sorry for causing you trouble…" she said, grudgingly.

"R-really, it wasn't… um…" Before Mami could finish, Nagisa's aunt grabbed her by the wrist and started leading her away.

"To top things off, you left the kitchen an absolute mess! I want you to clean that up right away, then wash yourself and get ready for dinner, and-" They could hear her berating Nagisa all the way until the door of their apartment slammed shut behind them.

"That was a little…" Mami started.

"Harsh…" Sayaka finished.

 **IV**

Homura still had no idea what was going on, but she knew she couldn't leave Madoka alone any longer, so she had to let it go and start heading back. She at least had a theory, and once Mami and Sayaka were away from this new girl, she was no longer as fearful about them having an encounter with the sweets witch.

It made sense. A witch that always appeared didn't appear, but in it's place there was a Magical Girl who she had never seen before. Therefore, it was quite clear who that girl was, and _what_ she could become. If Homura needed anymore proof: the girl she suspected of one day become the witch of _sweets_ was holding a _cake_.

What she didn't know, is why. What caused this new Magical Girl to not become a witch? Did her kidnapping Madoka have some kind of butterfly effect that led to this? Sayaka had contracted earlier than normal, for one, perhaps that had something to do with it… Well, Homura figured she would never know for certain, but whatever the cause, this created much bigger problems.

Homura now had no idea what to expect from this timeline. She has observed the subtle ripples her actions had over and over again. Over the countless years of repeating these months, she had learned how to manipulate this world, and she could never be caught off guard or surprised, because she always knew everything that was going to happen. Yet, even with that level of control, it still wasn't enough.

Now, something as major as a new Magical Girl in the timeline caused a situation where she had no idea what to expect anymore. The possibility of this girl turning into the sweets witch at an unexpected moment was only one of many other problems her existence caused. Her existence meant Homura no longer had control over the time line, and _anything_ could happen!

Although, besides those problems, there was also a vague feeling of hope. There were several timelines when Homura managed to keep all three of the other Magical Girls alive until Walpurgis Night. However, even with Kyoko, Sayaka, Mami, and Homura herself, it still wasn't enough. Even with all four of them as allies and battling together, Walpurgisnacht still won… But it was always close… So close... It was close enough to give Homura hope, and now with a fifth member of the team… maybe, if this girl survived, she could be the one to make the difference, and-

No.

Homura climbed on the city bus. She paid the toll, then found a seat towards the back.

 _No…_ she had to manage her expectations. This extra Magical Girl might give her some hope that Walpurgisnacht could be defeated this time, but she also had to plan for the more likely scenario that it _wouldn't_ be defeated. She would attempt to defeat Walpurgisnacht, but her top priority was to keep Madoka safe.

The only way to keep Madoka safe was to continue with her plan. She had to keep Madoka her prisoner, and prevent Kyubey from making a contract. Then, before Walpurgis Night, Homura would move Madoka out of the city, and find somewhere where she would be safe...

Regardless of if Walpurgisnacht was defeated or not...

Homura would find somewhere safe… and keep her there... _forever…_


	26. You shouldn't underestimate me

**Chapter 26**

 **I**

Kyoko vaulted from one rooftop to another, keeping track of the bus on the city streets below. "Damn it," she grunted to herself, breathing heavily as she stuck a landing and started sprinting to the next building. "She just _had_ to get on a bus!"

Well, she figured this would probably actually be better, if Homura went by foot and did her little disappearing act it would have been a lot harder to keep track of her.

The bus may have been faster, but at least it was an easy target to keep track of. Even if she lost it for a moment, she could take a shortcut and move diagonally across a city block to catch up again. Since the bus always had the next stop printed it's back she always knew where it would end up, too. This bus was eventually going to go to the center area of the city with lots of hotels, so Kyoko was glad to find out her initial assumption that that's where Homura was hiding out was correct.

In mid sprint, she slammed the blunt end of her spear into the rooftop just before the buildings edge and vaulted over the gap to the next rooftop. The tail of her crimson red tunic trailed behind her like a cape as she flew through the air.

She landed in a roll on the next rooftop, barely losing any speed before getting her feet under herself again. Before she continued her full spirit, however, she saw someone at the other end of the building. Her feet shuffled, and her heels dug into the ground to skid herself to a stop. A grin appeared on her face as she pulled her spear up to rest it over her shoulder.

Kyoko laughed and put up the peace sign. "Yo!"

"Why are you following me?" Homura asked, with a blank expression on her face. She stood there in her full Magical Girl attire, her hair and dress blowing in the wind.

"Heh, how did you know?" Kyoko asked.

"You shouldn't underestimate me." The truth is, Homura had gotten lucky. She knew that sometimes Kyoko had a tendency to stalk the other Magical Girls after first arriving in the city. Normally, she would have been more careful about this, but the events of the day had her somewhat distracted. Sitting upon the bus, it occurred to her that she ought to check her surroundings. Not just for Kyoko, but Homura also worried about Kyubey being on her tail.

With time stopped, she just happened to notice the crimson Magical Girl in mid leap between building tops, then came up here to confront her.

"Whatever, chick," Kyoko said, rolling her neck as she walked toward Homura. "Well, I'm actually glad this happened, all I wanted was to talk to you." She reached under her tunic and Homura flinched, getting into a more battle ready stance as Kyoko approached her. Kyoko grinned as she produced a box of pocky and held it out. "Want some?"

"I'll pass," Homura said, flatly. "Now I have to ask, are you going to cause problems for me?"

Kyoko shrugged and stuck a pocky stick into her mouth before returning the box under her tunic. "Na, I'm not looking to start trouble with you. Those other Magical Girls are one story, but you…" Her grin widened. "I kind of like you. In fact, I wanted to propose a team up. That's the only reason I was following you."

"If you simply wanted to talk, you would have shown yourself sooner. You were trying to find out where I live."

"And what's so bad about that? It's not like I care about your little pet girl or anything, and I certainly wouldn't give your location away to the other girls. Heh, alright, I can see you're pissed, so how about this: Why don't we just call it even on the GriefSeed I lent you last night?" Kyoko could still see the stern look on Homura's face, so she smiled and said, "Come on, don't be like that!"

Homura shrugged and turned away to look out over the city. "Perhaps there will be some use for an alliance between us in the future. However, if this alliance entails attacking the other Magical Girls, then you can count me out."

"Huh? Don't you get it? It's already three against two. The rookies probably aren't going to be much trouble individually, but with Mami helping them out it could be a problem. If we don't work together they are going to end up taking over this whole city. There simply aren't enough GriefSeeds to go around for FIVE Magical Girls to co-exist. You strike me as a veteran yourself, so you should understand this. Besides, you locked your petgirl up for the sake of eliminating some competition, didn't you? So, surely you understand how things ought to work."

"I would appreciate if you stopped referring to Madoka like that. She deserves more respect."

"Heh, that's kind of ironic coming from the girl who went and leashed her up like a dog, you know?"

Homura turned and narrowed her eyes at Kyoko.

"Hey, relax," Kyoko laughed, "I didn't mean anything by it!"

Homura sighed and brushed her hair back as she took on a more dignant posture, putting a foot up on the ledge of the building as she returned her gaze out over the city. "A month from now, GriefSeeds will no longer be a problem."

Kyoko frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm alright with an alliance, but we will need to bring the other group in on it."

"Look chick, this isn't Tokyo. I'm telling you, there aren't enough for five girls to work together! That's ridiculous!"

"Oh? And what if we defeated a Walpurgisnacht?" Homura turned with a soft smile touching her lips. "You know that word, don't you?"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed, and she folded her arms. "That's just a rumor. A myth that's spread amongst Magical Girls. Those types of witches don't actually exist. Besides, even if they were real, who's to say one will ever show up here?"

"They are real, I have seen one before. I wasn't able to defeat it myself, but I know it is still out there." Her expression darkened and became more intense. "On the first of may, the Walpurgisnacht will return."

"Even if that was true," said Kyoko, "I'm a two year veteran, and you seem to know your stuff as well. We can probably just defeat it ourselves."

"No… the truth is, even with those other three working with us victory is not assured. I promise you, this witch is unlike anything you have ever seen before."

"How do you know so much?" Kyoko asked with a raised eyebrow. "How do I know yer' not just pulling my leg?"

"I have my ways. You'll just have to trust me on this." Homura brought her other foot up so she was standing on the building's ledge as she turned her back to Kyoko. "We'll talk more later. I'm late for something."

"Need to get back to your petgirl, huh?" Kyoko said with a challenging look in her eyes. Homura simply glanced back over her shoulder with an unamused expression, then disappeared.

Kyoko clicked her teeth and kept her spear casually balanced over her shoulders as she walked to the other end of the building. She looked around at the streets below, wondering if she would see Homura down there. She didn't know much about Homura's little disappearing trick, but would like to get more details on exactly how it worked.

"You think you're so smart, huh?" The pocky stick between her lips pointed up toward the sky with her grinning face. Kyoko already knew what bus Homura was using to get back home. She wouldn't know the exact building Homura kept her petgirl locked up in, but the list of possibilities had just been narrowed by a large margin. "You shouldn't underestimate me either, dumb bitch."

 **II**

The original plan for the day was to search for either a witch or a familiar, after Sayaka got an afternoons worth of training. The encounter with Nagisa threw that plan off a bit, however, and now it was getting later in the day with only a few hours of daylight left.

"We're not going to find a witch every time we go out on patrol," Mami explained, as they walked along the city streets. "I was hoping to at least cross a familiar today, though. How late can you stay out? If you want, we can continue this at night."

"Well, my parents are away on business, but sometimes they call in around eight to check up on me. I'll have to be home for that to avoid getting into trouble… but after that I could come out again."

"Are you sure?" Mami asked, "You don't have to push yourself, you know. Tomorrows sunday so we'll have the whole day to get back at it."

"No, it's alright. Really," Sayaka said, giving her a determined smile and a slight nod of her head. "I'm new to this whole Magical Girl thing. That's why I need as much practise as I can get to become stronger! Besides that, as long as we are out hunting witches there's a chance we might cross paths with Homura, right?"

"Well, it's not a guarantee, and honestly the chance is probably slim, but yes that's still when we are most likely to find her."

Sayaka tightened her fist and looked up to the sky. "Then there's no choice. I didn't just become a Magical Girl to help Kyosuke, I need to do everything I can to save Madoka too! Not to mention the people we'll help by taking care of these witches and familiars!"

Mami gave Sayaka a smile. Her new kouhai certainly had the right attitude, at least. "All right then. I suppose I wouldn't be able to talk you out of it either way."

"Heh, no way!" Sayaka said, putting a thumb up. Then, her stomach let out an audible gurgle and her determined face quickly gave way to a frown as she looked down. She blushed and put a hand on her stomach. "Eh, guess we should eat first too, huh?"

"Guess so," Mami said with laugh.

"Well, I don't live too far from here. I've got some food at my house so why don't we go there? I can also check in with my parents then I'll be good to go for the night."

"Alright," said Mami, "Sounds like a plan!"

 **III**

Nagisa had a deep frown on her face as she finished wiping off the kitchen counter. She was so excited about bringing her cake to Mama that she forgot to clean up after herself before she left, and Aunti just spent the last half hour scolding her for it. "Stupid Aunti," she muttered to herself, now that the older woman finally left her alone. She put her hand on her shoulder, squeezed, and then winced. She was a little bit sore there because of her aunt grabbing her and forcing her forward. It was probably bruised.

"I was just trying to do something nice for Mama!" she angrily muttered as she threw the rag down hard into the trashcan. When she thought about her mother, her anger subsided and a smile ended up touching her lips. _Mama's going to be okay now._

Soon she would be released from the hospital and they could both go home together. Then they could bake cakes together all the time, and be happy like they always were before Mama got sick. Besides that, she wouldn't have to live with stupid Aunti anymore. Mama told her to be nice to her aunt, and show her respect because apparently it was some kind of big favor to let Nagisa live with her. However, Nagisa never actually felt too grateful about it.

Everything was going to be okay now, though, and it was all thanks to her wish she made with Kyubey... As she thought about that, she suddenly gasped and realized that she had forgotten something important! "I forgot to offer Kyubey some cheesecake!" she exclaimed to herself. He had been so nice to her by giving her a chance to make a wish, and she didn't even think to invite him to the party or anything!

She glanced over to the plastic bin which still had plastic wrapped over it and the barely touched cake inside. She hasn't even tried it herself yet. She hoped it was good. The party was delayed anyway, so hopefully she would see Kyubey again and have another chance to invite him.

"Nagisa! Are you done in here yet?" her aunt's stern voice called from the other room, as she walked through the house.

When Nagisa heard her voice, she grimaced, but responded in an overly polite tone, "Yes, all finished Aunti!" Had her aunt been more keen to Nagisa's wit, she would have realize Nagisa was making fun of her with that response.

"Oh, look at you. You're filthy," her aunt said as she walked into the kitchen. Indeed, Nagisa was now covered in flour. "Well, at least the kitchen is clean. Now go get washed up and get ready for dinner, after that I want you to work on your studies until it's time for bed. Understand?"

"Yes…" Nagisa said, less enthusiastically.

Her aunt walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets and started pulling out pots and pans so she could get dinner started. "Honestly, I am not going to allow myself to get blamed for you falling behind on your school work. You should have been studying as soon as you got home, but instead you go running around town unsupervised like a degenerate."

Nagisa's frown deepened, she wasn't just running around town like her aunt accused her of. Her whole outing was for the sake of trying to help Mama, therefore, this particular insult hit her a little deeper than her aunt's usual beratings. "I just went to see Mama," she muttered with a disgruntled tone.

Her aunt stopped what she was doing for just a brief moment, then got back to work. "I understand you wanted to see your mother, but you easily could have waited for me to get home and I would have taken you. You are simply too young to go walking through the city by yourself." The words themselves _could_ have held some level of compassion or understanding, but the dismissive tone of her voice spoke against this.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Mama's going to get better soon, so you won't have to worry about it!" With that, Nagisa started stomping toward the kitchen door.

"Nagisa," her aunt said, turning around to face the small girl. Her voice still held that fake level of compassion. "Listen, I know this is hard, but you need to understand that your mother-"

Then, the phone rang and Nagisa quickly shouted, "I'll get it!" and ran out into the living room where the house phone was located.

Her aunt sighed and slammed the pots down on the kitchen counter, then went to follow the girl. When she heard Nagisa pick up the phone and shout "Mama!" her feet suddenly stopped. She listened for a moment, and when she heard Nagisa's cheery voice supposedly responding to her bedridden sister, her feet slowly started to move again.

Nagisa's aunt stood in the living room doorway. The lighting was poor, so she was like some strange dark shadow stalking the young girl from just outside the room as she listened.

"No I'm okay Mama," Nagisa said, "I knew you were going to be okay too, because I met some new friends and… w-well, I can't tell you everything because Mami, _she's one of my new friends_ , said it's suppose to be a secret!"

"Oh, a secret?" her mother laughed, her voice was completely back to normal. It no longer had any hint of raspiness to it, and all her words were perfectly clear. "Well that's okay, I wouldn't want you giving away your friend's secrets."

"Can I come visit you tomorrow, Mama?" Nagisa asked.

"Of course you can. I'm feeling a lot better now too, so we can actually have some fun this time."

"Can I bring the cheesecake I made? I really want you to try it!"

"Yes, that sounds lovely. Nagisa, is Aunti there with you?"

Nagisa glanced back to her aunt who still lingered in the doorway, Nagisa was too excited about her mother to take note of the dark expression on her aunt's face. "Yup, Aunti's here."

"Can you put her on? I want to tell her the good news."

"Sure, I need to get started on my school work anyway."

"That's my girl," her mother laughed, "I'll talk to you again soon, sweetheart."

"Okay! Bye Mama!" Nagisa then held the phone out to her aunt, who crossed the room with slow heavy steps. Nagisa only caught a few words of her aunt's side of the conversation as she went up the stairs to her room.

"What? But, sister, I don't understand how… No, of course I'm glad but… are the doctors sure about that?... I-I see, well that's… No, Nagisa's been a pleasure, of course…" Nagisa's aunt gulped nervously as she asked her next question, "D-do they know what caused the illness in the first place?" A pause, and then a controlled sigh of relief, "Well… I'm just glad to hear you are getting better, sister."

 **IV**

Homura stepped out of the elevator on the top floor of the hotel. She was two hours later than she said she would be, and she felt incredibly guilty about it.

Back when she got off the bus, before entering the hotel, she walked by a small flower stand on the side of the street. She had stopped, and thought about buying a small bouquet for Madoka as an apology for being late. She decided against it, though. She was too uncertain about how Madoka in this timeline felt about her, and something like that could easily be taken the wrong way.

She sighed as she put her hand on the door of her room. What had Madoka been thinking these last two hours? Trapped, and tied to the bed, with no certainty of when Homura would be back. Homura knew how taxing the last few days have been on the poor girl, and with the state she was in, her mind could have been going through all kinds of nightmarish scenarios. Homura was once again blaming herself for causing Madoka pain. She hated it. She just wanted Madoka to be happy and safe, but failed to bring that to her time and time again.

She opened the door, and stepped inside. "I'm back," she called out right away, and shut the door behind herself. "I'm sorry I'm late… Everything's alright, I just…" She hadn't come up with a good explanation for why she was so late. She didn't want Madoka to worry, though. "Something just came up is all… But it wasn't anything you need to worry about, everythings fine."

She opened the door to Madoka's room, and stopped. Her heart sank, and her guilt hit an all time high. Madoka's chest was moving up and down and a rapid rate, as if she were out of breath, and wet streaks glistened in thin lines down both of her cheeks.

"Madoka…" Homura quickly went over to her, and started working at undoing the tape. Madoka wouldn't look at her, she just stared at the wall with her glassy tear-filled eyes. Her chest rose up and down in quick contorted bursts from trying to suppress her sobs. She must have spent the last hours crying. "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to be late... I'm here now, though, so everything's okay."

Madoka winced as the tape pulled the tiny hairs on the back of her neck, and a small cry came through the gag. Then Homura helped her spit the cloth out, and pulled the rest of the tape away from her cheek.

"How can you say everything's okay!" Madoka shouted at her as soon as speech was available to her again.

"I… um…" Homura took a step back, never being able to deal well with Madoka being upset with her.

"Just hurry up and untie me!"

Homura nodded, and quickly got to work with the noose around her left hand. As soon as the rope was loose, Madoka pulled her hand away and turned her body away from Homura as much as she could and started untying the other hand herself. Homura then went to undo her left ankle. By the time that was done, Madoka was reaching for the right ankle, and she quickly turned her shoulder to stop Homura from trying to help her.

Homura's hand fell away. "Listen…" she said carefully, her voice reverting back to its monotone nature. "This kind of situation is only tempor-"

"Shut up!" Madoka shouted.

Homura jumped back as if she were struck by something, then swallowed nervously and glanced around. She wasn't sure how thick the walls were and thought Madoka might have been being a little too loud. She tried to express this carefully, but her lack of finesse betrayed her as if often does, "Can you lower your tone?" she said.

Madoka let out a frustrated growl, and got off the bed. Her hands bunched up into small fists, and to Homura's surprise, Madoka started punching her. The blows didn't have much power behind them, Madoka being a small girl, but she pounded against Homura's chest over and over again, her fragile voice grunting with frustration with each strike. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Homura just stood there with wide eyes, completely at a loss for what she should do. That terrible feeling of guilt hurting her more than anything else. But, she allowed Madoka to vent her anger, and didn't so much as move a hand to try and stop her.

Eventually, the rate of her strikes slowed with less force behind them, and Madoka seeming to have run out of breath. Her head lowered with the bottoms of her fists still delivering slow soft blows, and Homura realized she was crying. Madoka let out a sob, and practically fell into Homura's chest with her hands still bunched up into tiny fists.

"Mado… ka?" Homura said cautiously, starting to feel tears stinging her own eyes, as Madoka cried into her chest. Then, her arms raised, and her hands gently fell over Madoka's shoulders, and she hugged her.

"Do you have any idea how scared I was?" Madoka's small cracked voice asked. Her head was held tight in Homura's embrace, and her body occasionally shook with a soft suppressed sob. "You tell me all these scary things… a-and… then you just disappear…"

Homura held onto her tighter, tears flowing more freely from her own eyes as well. "I know… I'm doing my best… but it feels like things just always end up going wrong… I don't know what to-"

Madoka suddenly pushed her away. "Stop that!" she shouted, once again leaving Homura with wide eyes, not sure how to respond. The lost expression on Homura's face only seemed to upset Madoka more.

"I…"

"Stop making me feel like I should feel bad for you!" Madoka shouted, as if to clarify. She then abruptly turned away and stormed out of the room.

Homura was a bit delayed in following after her, but once her thoughts caught up with her, her feet moved quickly. Once outside of the bedroom, she saw Madoka heading right for the front door of the hotel room, and Homura sped up her pace. "Wait! Where do you think you're going?" she demand.

When Madoka turned around, the fury in her eyes was enough to stop Homura dead in her tracks. "I'm taking a bath! Is there a problem with that?" she shouted.

Homura tucked down into her shoulders, almost defensively, and she quickly shook her head. Madoka abruptly turned away again and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind herself.

Homura stood in the middle of the empty hotel room by herself, with her hands folding together nervously. _She really shouldn't be slamming doors like that,_ she thought. She looked around for a moment, until her eyes set themselves on the kitchen. She sighed. _Maybe I should get started on dinner…_

 **V**

Sayaka led Mami up the walkway to her house, just before dusk when the sunlight was starting to turn a darker shade of yellow. Mami had been here once before, but last time it had been night and the house now seemed a lot bigger since she could see it clearly.

Sayaka bent down and lifted up a potted plant by the doorway, but stopped as if mildly surprised. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Mami asked.

Sayaka set the plant back down. "Usually there's a spare key here…" She stood up, then tried the door handle. It turned without any trouble. "Well… at least it's open, but... that's really strange." Then she glanced at Mami, with a trace of worry in her eyes.

Mami lowered her voice. "Are you sure it didn't just get misplaced?"

"It's possible… Sometimes I bring it in the house with me without thinking about it… but it's strange that I also would have forgotten to lock up…"

"Well, the last time you were home was when we first met a couple days ago, right? The night we came across Homura in the witch's barrier? Maybe you just forgot."

"Yeah… but…"

Mami nodded. "Let's proceed cautiously, just incase… We still don't know how much Homura knows about us, or what kind of lengths she will go to against us." Sayaka returned the nod, agreeing with that sentiment, then carefully opened the door.

"Nothing's missing," Sayaka said, as she walked in and looked around. They started checking all the rooms together. They didn't find anything, and Sayaka verified that everything was as she left it. "I guess I really did just forget to lock up after all," she said with a laugh, "Sorry about the false alarm."

"No, not at all." Mami smiled, "Better to be on the safe side, right?"

"Heh, yeah… Anyway, I gotta use the restroom real quick, I'll be right back. Feel free to make yourself at home."

"Okay," said Mami, and then when Sayaka left her she started looking around. She took note of how big the house was and thought about how Sayaka said she was mostly here by herself. Mami thought that must be pretty lonely in such a big house like this… Well, Mami could certainly relate to that feeling anyway. She lived alone herself, and because of her Magical Girl career, she never had much time to work on building friendships. She had a few acquaintances at school, but no one who she could consider a close friend. All of a sudden, it seemed like that was starting to change for her, though. Not only Sayaka, but now also Nagisa was her friend, and they were all Magical Girls… After years going solo she was no longer going to have to do this alone anymore, and that thought filled her with relief..

Somehow, the situation made her think about Kyoko. She had zero doubts that it was Kyoko who had broken into her own apartment and raided her refrigerator the other day… That thought led to another idea, and she walked into Sayaka's kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator door, and saw that it was pretty well stocked. She grinned to herself. Of course Kyoko couldn't also be the mysterious intruder here at Sayaka's house. As far as Mami knew, Kyoko would have no way of even knowing of Sayaka's existence yet… and this thought led her to another more troubling one.

She walked back out into the livingroom.

She hadn't told Sayaka about Kyoko yet. Mami didn't want to believe that her old kohai was dangerous, but she couldn't deny facts either. She always hoped that Kyoko's grief over the loss of her family would eventually subside, and she would return to her once warm hearted self. Chances are that wasn't the case though, and Kyoko could be here in Mitakihara with the intention of vying for territory. If _that_ were the case, Mami had to make sure Sayaka and Nagisa were aware of the danger the crimson Magical Girl could present.

Although, Mami hoped to get a chance to speak with Kyoko before anything bad like that happened. She hoped she could get Kyoko to start walking a moral path again… Even though they had separated from each other on bad terms those years ago, Mami still thought of Kyoko as her kohai, and still wanted to help her… She just wished there was some way she could make Kyoko understand that.

Mami then noticed a red ribbon on the floor, near the front door. When they first came inside, she and Sayaka were worried enough about the possibility of an intruder that neither of them must have noticed it. Mami bent down and picked it up. It was pretty, and she noticed a strand of pink hair was stuck to it. She didn't think much of it though, thinking it was probably dropped when moving laundry or something, so went to set it on the coffee table where it at least wouldn't be on the floor anymore.

That's when Sayaka came out of the bathroom. "So, what are you in the mood for?" Sayaka said as she entered the living room. "I've got…" She stopped and stared at what Mami had in her hand.

Mami looked back and forth between Sayaka and the ribbon with a confused expression at first, then smiled and said, "I noticed this on the floor, I didn't want it to get dirty so…" Before she could finish, Sayaka suddenly ran across the room and snatched it from her. "Um… Sayaka?" Mami asked with an awkward smile, not sure how to take the sudden seriousness in Sayaka's demeanor.

"Mami…" Sayaka said in a whisper, staring at the ribbon as if it were some rare artifact. "This is… Madoka's!"

"Madoka's?"

"Yes! She was wearing this the day she disappeared!" Sayaka shouted, "Madoka was here! She must have escaped and… and…"

Then there was a knock on the door. Sayaka looked down at the ribbon, stuck between thoughts.

"You should go see who that is," Mami said calmly. "Then we can get to the bottom of whatever this means."

Sayaka nodded, clutching the ribbon in her hand, then walked over to the door. She put her eye over the peep hole, and got a bit startled when she saw who it was. She looked back to Mami. "It's Madoka's mom," she said.

Mami thought for a moment, then said, "You should hide that." Referring to the ribbon.

"What? Why?"

"This might sound a bit harsh, but we need to do our best to keep regular people out of the affairs of Magical Girls. It could lead to too many questions which we will not be able to answer honestly."

Sayaka didn't like it, but she understood the logic, and stuffed the ribbon into her pocket. Junko knocked on the door again, and called through the door. "Sayaka! Open up! I can hear you in there." Her tone wasn't one Sayaka was used to hearing from the usually cool and collected woman she knew Madoka's mom to be. She gulped nervously, then opened the door.

"Hey Mrs. K," she said, "Sorry… I was just…" Her words trailed off when she saw the stern look on Junko's face. The closest thing she had ever seen to it from Junko before was a couple years ago when she had a sleepover at Madoka's house. Junko caught the two of them staying up well past their bedtimes, watching a movie they shouldn't have been watching, and scolded them for it… this current expression was WAY more serious than that though, and for the first time ever Sayaka felt herself getting nervous standing in front of Madoka's mom.

"Just how much do you know about what's going on with Madoka?" Junko said, sternly.


	27. Don't apologize

**Chapter 27**

 **I**

"Hey Mrs. K. Sorry… I was just…" Sayaka stammered through her speaking, and scratched at the back of her head as she stood in the doorway. There was guilt written all over her face. Junko had only vague suspicions before, but now she knew for sure: Sayaka was hiding something!

"Just how much do you know about what's going on with Madoka?" Junko said, putting as stern of a tone to her voice as she could, and crossing her arms. She knew Sayaka almost as well as her own daughter, and therefore knew the best way to squeeze the truth out of her was to put her under a little pressure. Sayaka was a good kid, they both were, and Junko rarely had to play the strict parent, but she knew how to do it when it was necessary.

"What? N-nothing! Really!" Sayaka insisted, with a defensive tone to her voice. "W-why would you think that?"

"Because you have been a complete ghost since Madoka has gone missing. I've known you long enough to know under normal circumstances you would be calling the house every twenty minutes the second you heard Madoka didn't make it back on time. It's been two days now without a single word."

Sayaka eyes shifted down, "I've… just been busy." She spoke with clear guilt in her voice. Junko didn't know _what_ Sayaka knew, but it was clear as day that she was trying to hide _something_. "Of course I'm worried that Madoka is missing… I just…"

"So where were you these last two days? I've even tried calling the house but never got an answer."

"Well… With a friend… I um..."

Junko felt bad, she hated to be so strict with Sayaka. Regardless of how much Sayaka did or didn't know, whatever was going on was clearly tearing her up. She could also tell Sayaka really wanted to just come out and be honest about whatever it was she was hiding.

"Sayaka…" Junko said, softening her tone and letting the harsh expression drop away from her face. "I can tell you're hiding something… if it has something to do with Madoka I need to know. Whatever it is, it's okay. I know you're a good kid, and I won't be mad."

Sayaka's eyes shifted, and she let out a long breath. Junko could tell that was it, and Sayaka was finally giving in and she was going to say whatever was on her mind. Just as Sayaka opened her mouth to speak, another voice came from inside the house.

"It's as Sayaka said." Junko hadn't noticed the other girl who was waiting nearby in the living room. She now came forth and stood by Sayaka's side. "Sayaka had been staying with me the last couple days," the girl explained, then bowed her head politely. "My name is Mami Tomoe. You must be Madoka's mother."

"Oh… yes, Junko Kaname," Junko said. "And you know Madoka? I don't think she has ever mentioned you before."

"No, we've never actually met, but Sayaka told me so much about her… I'm very sorry to hear that she has gone missing, from what Sayaka told me she sounds like a really nice girl."

"Yeah… she is," Junko said with a sigh, as she looked over the two girls standing in the doorway. Junko now had a theory that would fully explain why Sayaka had been so aloof over the last few days. "So you really don't have any idea what's going on with Madoka?" Junko asked, with an almost apologetic tone to her voice.

Sayaka nodded.

"Sorry to have questioned you like that…" Junko said. "It's just… I don't know, I think part of me was hoping you _did_ know something." Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. "And sorry, I should have shown this to you first. It's a letter from Madoka."

"From Madoka!?" Sayaka said, suddenly jumping out of her uneasy hunched over posture, and taking the paper from Junko. She quickly unfolded the paper and held it infront of her face. Her head slowly rocked back and forth as she read. When she was done, she lowered it, and became lost in deep thought. "Well… she says she's not hurt… but…" Her eyes sunk away.

Junko nodded her agreement, and for a moment no one seemed to know what to say.

"Um, maybe we could all sit down and discuss this?" Mami offered, "It's probably better than standing here on the porch. I could make some tea."

"Yeah," Sayaka agreed, "Would you like to come in, Mrs. Kaname?"

"Sure, and honestly tea sounds really good right about now."

 **II**

Madoka could hear pots banging around in the kitchen, right on the other side of the wall. She slunk down deeper into the bath water until it covered her mouth and blew out, creating bubbles. _She's cooking dinner for me again._

For some reason, Homura being nice to her frustrated her even more than when Homura was being mean. At least in those cases she could allow herself to feel angry at the girl who snatched her up from her normal life and has been holding her captive.

Madoka lifted her hand out of the water to look at her wrist. The top layer of her skin had been rubbed away from struggling against the ropes. It wasn't deep enough to bleed, but it stung when it was submerged under the water, and the injury was quite clearly visable if she didn't keep it covered. Homura hadn't noticed it, because Madoka was trying to hide it from her, and that was the reason she had not allowed Homura to help untie that wrist from the bedpost. She just could not stand having to look at that apologetic expression on Homura's face. She was too angry to deal with it right now.

 _What am I going to do?_ She wondered, as she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. She let her head submerge until only her face was over the waters surface, and her ears filled with water. Like this, she couldn't quite hear what Homura was doing, but she could very subtly feel the vibrations of her movements. _I want to go home…_

Now wouldn't be a bad time to try to sneak away, she realized. Homura was busy in the kitchen, and the front door of the apartment was right by the bathroom door. She could move very carefully, and get dressed, then sneak out. If she could just make it out onto the city streets, and get lost in the crowd, Homura would have a hard time finding her right away. Then, she would just have to be careful about where she went and avoid anywhere Homura might think to look for her. She couldn't risk going to the police, because Homura would certainly think to look there, and thanks to her time stopping capability not even the police could protect her. Homura also apparently knew almost everything about her, so that meant she couldn't go to any friends or family either...

.. _.Then_ … what would even be the point of escaping under those conditions? She didn't have the ability to take care of herself, and Homura would eventually end up finding her again anyway.

Her face sunk down even lower into the tub until her nose was submerged, and her eyes just barely remained above the surface of the water.

 _I could hurt myself_ , she thought…

She instantly shook that idea out of her head. The initial impression of it was to force Homura to take her to a hospital, but that was just too scary and she didn't have any idea how she could pull it off. She doubted she would have the force of will to bring harm to herself in the first place, so if she did come up with something she would just chicken out. Not to mention she didn't even know if Homura's healing ability could be used on other people… Even if it couldn't, there was the possibility Homura would not take her to the hospital at all even if she needed it. She really was quite adamant about keeping her locked up in here, after all.

She scooted back until she was sitting up in the tub again, then folded her knees up into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She just stared down into the water, watching a very foggy reflection of her own face waving around on the water's surface.

How much did she really know about Homura? Homura claimed that she cared about her, but did Madoka really have any reason to believe that was true? All Madoka could really say about Homura's treatment of her is that she hasn't been _that_ bad. Still, not _that_ bad is still pretty bad considering how much time she had spent tied to a bed over the last few days. Not to mention the dog collar, and Homura hurting her arms when she wouldn't cooperate last night. Actually, thinking about all those things at once, it really was _THAT_ bad.

 _No, I'm not being fair..._

If she did get hurt, Homura would definitely do anything she could to help her. There were many things wrong with Homura, and how she would treat her, but there is one underlying truth behind all of that which Madoka could not deny: Homura truly did care for her.

 _What do I do? What do I do?_ she thought, staring at her foggy reflection, and felt her thoughts coming full circle. She couldn't escape, and she couldn't stay.

 _Why can't I just stay?_

She tried to escape before, and when she did Homura treated her badly… but was it really that bad? Since her goal was to keep Madoka here, of course she had to come looking for her, and Madoka didn't exactly come along willingly again… so, didn't that mean Homura _had_ to get a little forceful? Homura said herself if she would just cooperate, things would be more comfortable and she would allow her more freedom... but… that kind of logic just wasn't right… was it?...

 _Why can't I stay?..._

 _Because I miss my friends and my family. Because I'm missing school and I'm going to fall behind. Because Mama and Papa are so worried, and poor little Tatsuya probably doesn't understand what's going on, but at least knows his big sister has disappeared somewhere. Because Sayaka is in trouble. And also because... I'm scared..._

Madoka lifted her head up, and listened. She could still hear Homura banging around in the kitchen. "I'm afraid," she declared to herself, in a very small voice, and revisited the beginning of this train of thought. How well did she _really_ know Homura?

She thought about what happened before Homura left today. The memory made Madoka's face feel hot, and she sank back into the water again. Homura tried to kiss her. Shouldn't that make her worried? Well, she did stop when Madoka told her to, and that look on her face was just really sad. Madoka ended up feeling really sorry for her, but then she was left on the bed all day, long past the time Homura said she would be back, and Madoka's anger ended up coming back. _Homura did look pretty guilty about it, though..._

 _No! You should be angry! s_ he told herself. _Everything about this is wrong! You shouldn't feel sorry for the person who kidnapped you!_

She got out of the tub, being very slow with her movements as she reached for the towel and started drying herself off.

 _I need to get out of this_ , she thought again, trying to strengthen her resolve. _I can't just stay here like this! This isn't right! I need to get out of this somehow._

She could still hear Homura making a good amount of noise in the kitchen. She finished drying her body and started putting her clothes on.

She didn't drain the tub, and once fully dressed she stood with her hand on the doorknob. _It's so close, if she thinks I'm still in the bath I can get far away before she notices I'm gone._

She pushed one hand against the door, and the other slowly turned the knob. When the door started pushing open, she could feel her heart racing. She opened it just enough to step out, and didn't bother with closing it again. She glanced over her shoulder, and could see Homura's shadow cast over the bar. _She's still cooking… she doesn't expect anything._

Her shoes were still in the bedroom, so she would have to continue barefoot. That's something she hadn't considered when she first thought up this plan. Going about barefoot might draw some attention to herself, but she didn't have a choice and she would just hope to find a place to hide out for a while. Homura's powers were impressive, but she was only one person in a big city. The longer she hid, the colder her trail would get, and the harder it would be for Homura to find her again.

She tiptoed to the front the door, which was just a few paces away. The chain lock was drawn, so her hand lifted up to it very carefully.

 _It's going to make noise_ , she thought. The metal against metal would be impossible to stifle out completely, however, Homura was making enough noise herself it would be hard for her to pick up on such a small sound.

Madoka's hand was visibly shaking as her thumb and pointer finger closed on the tiny metal ball. Her heart raced like it never had before. The last time she escaped didn't have this same nerve wracking effect on her. Perhaps it's the added pressure of needing to be completely silent that got to her?

 _Come on, just this one thing, then I'll be able to make it!_

If she made it out to the hall, she'd be able to just make a run for it. Hopefully, it would be awhile before Homura realized she was gone, and she would just have to be careful not to go anywhere that Homura would think to look for her.

 _If I even make it that far…_

She winced as she slid the little metal bead and it scraped against its holder.

Suddenly, Homura stopped moving, and all that could be heard was the sizzling of the frying pan. Madoka froze, holding her breath because she thought even that would be loud enough for Homura to hear. The chain lock was now undone, but Madoka still held it, too afraid to move. Her heart felt like it was going to thump right out of her chest.

Then she heard footsteps. _Run! Just run!_ she told herself. _Just do it!_

Then the tension snapped when she heard Homura's dry emotionless voice. "Madoka. Stop."

Her head slumped down and her arms fell to her sides. She didn't have to look back to know that Homura was standing right behind her. She'd been caught.

"Can you blame me?" Madoka said with a surprisingly steady voice. She just stared at the door. It was unlocked now and she really could just make a run for it, however, she already knew that she would not get far at all before Homura started dragging her back, so it was pointless.

Homura walked over to her, but Madoka refused to look at her, even as Homura's hand reached into her field of vision, grabbed the chain link, and refastened it - locking the door once again. "Of course I don't blame you," said Homura. She tried to look at Madoka's face, but Madoka looked away. Homura just turned around and started walking back to the kitchen. "Dinner is ready. Come sit down."

Madoka turned around, and started looking around the room. She had been so quiet! How did she get caught? When she couldn't see anything like a mirror that Homura might have been able to see she asked, "How did you know?"

Homura pointed over to the TV set that sat against the wall opposite of the kitchen bar. "There's a reflection. I didn't plan on that, I just happened to notice while I was cooking that I could see the front door through it."

Madoka frowned. "I see..."

"Are you okay?" Homura asked, with a slight turn of her head.

"Do you have to ask?" Madoka said, still refusing to look at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

 **III**

Sayaka and Junko went to sit at the dining room table while Mami went into the kitchen and started getting the tea ready. She would occasionally pop her head out and asked where to find something.

"So, you stayed at Mami's house the last couple of days?" Junko asked again, after the blonde receded back into the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah."

Junko raised her voice a little so Mami could hear her. "And your parents were alright with that?"

"Actually, I live alone," Mami called back, as she filled the kettle and put it on the stove. Then she came back out into the dining room to let it boil. She had a doleful smile on her face as she explained. "My parents passed away a couple years ago in an accident, and I've lived alone in my own apartment ever since."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," said Junko.

Mami nodded, accepting the consolation. "Thank you, it hasn't always been easy but I've been getting along just fine." She then opted for a change topic, "So how do you take your tea?"

"One cream, one sugar," Junko said, then her hand asked for the letter back from Sayaka, who just finished reading it for the third or fourth time. Sayaka slid it over to her and she read over it again herself. "I just don't understand what's going on here… I don't think she was forced to write it this way, the way things are worded sounds like Madoka… but…" Junko put her hand over her face and shook her head. A cute young girl like Madoka… she couldn't help that worst case scenario from coming to her mind.

"She said she might call later…" Sayaka offered.

Junko nodded, but it did little to relieve her stress. Although, if she could actually hear her daughter's voice it would give her a much better idea of the situation.

"Just try to stay positive," Mami said, stepping back out of the kitchen. "She said she isn't being hurt, so have faith that things will work out." She put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder from behind. "As I said to Sayaka, this might all be over before we even know it."

Junko managed to give a half-hearted smile at that. Mami seemed like a really kind girl, and Junko once again found herself curious about her relationship with Sayaka. For only just meeting, they did seem rather close. Then she took note of the new earing Sayaka had been wearing. It was a blue gem in the shape of a tear drop hanging from her ear. "That's a pretty earing Sayaka, I don't think I've seen it before. Where did you get it?"

"This?" Sayaka said, putting a hand to it, suddenly with a bit of blush creeping onto her face. "Well… well I um…" Junko raised an eyebrow, as Sayaka seemed to start reaching for an answer. "Um… well, Mami gave it to me." She nodded. "Yup, I got it from Mami." She then smiled a tad awkwardly.

"I'm surprised by how close the two of you are," Junko said. "How long have you known each other?"

"Um… well, just a few days," Sayaka said.

"I see," Junko smiled, a bit inquisitively. "Despite that, you act like you have been friends with each other for quite a while… A bit _more_ than just friends, maybe?"

"Hm… well," Mami thought, "I guess you could put it like that..." Mami clasped her hands at her chest and got a far away look in her eyes. "I mean, if we do not trust each other as more than just friends and take each others lives into our hands, our relationship couldn't last. I know it's early, and that might sound silly, but I hope our bond strengthens and we really do become those kinds of friends!"

Junko had to force herself to keep a straight face; that might have been the cutest thing she has ever heard. Mami certainly seemed to be a romantic, and she could easily see how Sayaka fell for her so quickly. "Well that's great… I'm very happy for both of you," Junko said with a smile. It also perfectly explained why Sayaka hadn't been around. She was undoubtedly distraught over Madoka's disappearance, they were practically sisters after all, but she managed to find comfort in Mami, and the situation probably acted as a catalyst for their relationship. Junko did always have a vague suspicion that Sayaka could end up with a girl; she always did have that tomboy side to her, after all.

Mami got the tea ready, and served it to them, and the three of them sat around the table and talked a little more. Junko got to know Mami a little better, and found her to be a wonderful girl. When the tea was finished, she thanked them and said that she really should be getting back home.

On her way out the door, she looked at the two of them again, as they now stood side by side. "I'm really happy the two of you managed to find each other," she said with a smile.

"Huh?" Sayaka started thinking that Junko had been acting rather strange.

"Thank you for saying so," Mami said with a smile and a bow of her head, apparently not noticing the same thing.

Junko gave Sayaka one last wink before leaving.

"Eh…" Sayaka put her hand to her chin and thought. _What was that all about?..._

Then she remembered Hitomi's reaction to meeting Mami earlier, and as the answer dawned on her, a deep blush suddenly hit her face. "Eh… h-hey Mami?" Sayaka asked.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Somehow… I think people are getting the wrong idea about us."

"What? How do you mean?" Mami asked with a curious tone to her voice.

"Ah… eh… well, never mind! It's nothing..."

 **IV**

Madoka just stared at the dishes in front of her. There was a bowl of soup, and a plate with rice and fried dumplings.

Homura was on the kitchen side of the bar, going through the fridge. "What would you like to drink?" she asked. "We've got water, cola, and ice tea."

"Waters fine…" Madoka said, with a small dull tone.

Madoka lifted the spoon out of the bowl, stared at the brown liquid and the little bits of carrots and chopped celery that pooled inside it. Then she turned the spoon and let its contents drip back into the bowl.

"It's just the store bought brands," Homura explained as she set the glass of water by Madoka's plate. She sat down on the opposite side of the bar from Madoka, and put a small stack of napkins between the two of them. "I know it's not much, but I hope this is alright."

 _Alright? Of course this isn't alright!_

Madoka frowned, letting the spoon go and instead picking up the fork and moving her rice around with it. She was hungry, really hungry in fact, and the smell of the food in front of her caused her mouth to water and her stomach to cry out for a bite. She didn't want to eat it, though. She was suppose to be mad at Homura, and somehow she felt like accepting any hospitality from her captor would contradict that.

"No… this is fine. Thank you," Madoka said, despite herself, and instantly started kicking herself on the inside. Homura gave a small smile then started eating herself. Madoka picked up a fork full of rice, and let it hover above the plate for a moment, debating with herself if she should eat it. She ended up setting it down and sitting back, now just staring at the plate.

Homura looked up, paused for a moment, and asked, "Are you going to eat?" Madoka's frown deepened, but she didn't respond. Homura set her own fork down. Madoka could feel Homura's eyes on her, but refused to look back up. Homura seemed to think it over, and try to choose her words carefully, but as usual her tactlessness betrayed her. "Are you going to do this every time?"

Madoka then practically kicked her chair out from under herself and stood up, then started marching around the bar.

"Madoka?" Homura asked, as her head turned, watching Madoka come around to the kitchen side. Madoka walked right past her, and now Homura was fully turned around in her chair and watched as Madoka threw open the cabinets and started looking through. "Um… do you need something?" Homura asked.

"I'm looking for something to eat!" Madoka stated, with an uncharacteristic level of assertion in her voice.

Homura glanced over to the plate she made for Madoka. "Is there something wrong with this?"

"No…" Madoka said, moving a bag of sugar to the side and standing on her toes so she could look deeper inside. "The only problem is you! I can't leave, and I guess I have no choice but to accept that. But that doesn't mean I have to accept YOU!"

Upon saying those words, and noticing Homura's shoulders slump down through her peripheral vision, Madoka instantly felt a sinking in her own heart. What she just said was terribly mean, she knew that, and she said it purposely to hurt Homura. She knew that it would work, and it did, and she already wished that she could take it back. After all, despite the situation they met under, and how Homura had treated her, Madoka knew that Homura cared for her.

When Madoka was tied to the bed earlier that day, with Homura leaning over her… she got a glimpse at Homura's feelings… After seeing that, and now saying something so mean, she knew that she had just done a rather cruel thing. Homura's silence now made it worse. She wished Homura would say something, even if it was something aggressive and commanding… just anything. Because the silence itself was a painful thing to listen to.

Madoka lowered down from her tiptoes and reached over to another cabinet, when Homura said her name. "Madoka."

"What," Madoka said back, not looking at her, and trying not to show any of the guilt she felt.

Homura stood up. "Your… your wrist."

Madoka flinch and quickly drew her hand back to her chest. She had a long sleeve shirt on which normally hid the rope burn, but when she reached up to the cabinet the sleeve must have pulled back enough for Homura to see it. Madoka quickly used her other hand to pull it back up and hide the injury. "Its… it's nothing," Madoka said in a small voice.

Homura walked over to her, but Madoka turned her shoulder away, still trying to hide the injury by burrowing it against her chest. "It's not nothing," Homura said. "Please… let me see it."

Homura reached for it, but Madoka made a point of trying to turn away from her again. Homura forced the issue, and grabbed her by her forearm with a firm grip, but guided it over to herself as gently as she could. Homura used her free hand to roll the sleeve back down so she could examine the wound. Madoka kept her head turned away, with a defiant look in her eyes, while Homura studied it.

"You should have said something," Homura said. "It's not deep, but that doesn't mean it couldn't get infected." Homura's hand set itself over the wound. Touching it caused Madoka to wince a little and try to flinch away, but before she could, she noticed a bright light coming from under Homura's palm. Madoka simply watched through the corner of her eye at first, still with that defiant curve to her lips, but she ended up turning her head more fully, and staring in fascination.

She felt warmth come over her. There had been a slow throbbing around her wrist all day, but the warmth now surrounded it and soothed the pain away. Some of the light slipped through the cracks between Homura's fingers and shot up in thin rays, but most of it came from under her palm and spilled over Madoka's wrist. It was really pretty to look at, the light was mostly white but would flash between all different colors of the rainbow very quickly.

When the light disappeared again, and Homura lifted her hand away, Madoka's wrist was completely healed as if nothing was ever there. Madoka looked at it with wide eyes, momentarily lost in wonderment.

She felt a _'thank you'_ on the tip of her tongue, but bit it back, trying to remind herself that she shouldn't be showing any gratitude to the girl who kidnapped her. Despite the ingrained part of her character that told her it was wrong not to thank someone who had done something for her.

"It's my fault..." Homura said. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I… don't ever want that… but..." Her voice trailed off, it seemed she had more she wanted to say, but either stopped herself or didn't know how to word it. She turned around and started walked back to the bar.

Madoka turned her wrist to look at it from all angles, verifying that it really had completely healed. "Well…" her voice was small, "It's not your fault… I mean, technically I did it to myself… and it's okay now, so…"

Homura stood over the bar, looking at the two plates of food. "I don't know what you want, but _I_ want this situation to be better for you… If you would like to start cooking your own food, that is fine." Her voice was steady, low and toneless. "You are welcome to anything you find in the fridge… if you like, you can make a list for me and I'll go buy anything else you need. You can… feel free to cook for yourself from now on."

Homura's voice always had a rather toneless quality to it, but as Madoka watched her, staring down at the two plates of food she had made, Madoka started to realize something. That voice of hers, it was hard to put into specific words, but it's like she was exhausted. An emotional exhaustion, the voice of someone who had faced so many hardships for so long that she eventually just let herself become numb.

Madoka looked at her wrist again, thinking about the power that had healed it. "Hey, Homura? This magic… if I were to make a contract I would have magic like that too, right?"

Homura looked back at her through the corner of one eye, a darkness suddenly coming over her.

"W-what I mean is…" Madoka stammered. "If I did, th-then I would also have to fight witches, right?"

"Thats correct," Homura said.

Madoka thought back to when they were in that labyrinth. She remembered how Homura got hurt protecting her. "In… another timeline, I really use to fight those things."

"Yes. That is the fate that I want to save you from."

Homura claimed to have relived this timeline many times. Madoka didn't have the full scope of what led to their current situation, but taking a step back, and really looking at it, Madoka could see how desperate all of this was. It was scary, and she wanted to go home, but despite everything that had happened she could at least see that desperation in Homura, and find it in herself to pity her for it. Even if she could only imagine what must have led to it.

"I'm…" Then there was that mean thing she had said to Homura just a moment ago. It was still out there. "I'm…" She felt bad about it, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize. There was the simple fact that if she thought she could get away, she would. Therefore, she was being held here against her will, and it was this tall dark girl who was keeping her here.

This girl would give her portions of the truth, but never the whole thing. This girl was keeping her from her friends and family, would tie her up so she couldn't escape, drag her back if she _did_ escape, and threatened to punish her if she didn't cooperate. Madoka couldn't apologize for the way she felt, even if she didn't hate Homura, the truth is she wasn't sorry and therefore she could not apologize.

"It's... okay…" Madoka said.

Homura didn't seem to understand.

Madoka tried her best to give her a smile, although it was a weak attempt. "I mean, I'll eat what you made... It's fine, really. And thank you."

Homura just stood there for a moment, and Madoka wondered if what she had said made sense to her, but Homura eventually returned a weak smile and sat down.

As Madoka walked back around the bar to take her seat, she said, "A-and next time I'll cook for _you_ , okay? I mean, there isn't much else I can do here so it will at least give me something to keep myself busy."

Homura's smile became somewhat stronger and she said, "Thank you. That would be nice."

They didn't speak much through dinner. Sometimes Madoka could let the depth of her current situation slip away from her mind. In those few brief moments, when it failed to be at the front of her thoughts, she almost felt like she could be friends with Homura and think of something nice to say. However, then the realization would dawn back on her that she might not see her family and friends ever again, or at least not for a very long time. Then a pang of anxiety would hit her heart and suddenly she could not bare to even look at the raven haired girl who sat across from her.

Her thoughts were mixed up, and she spent more energy trying to keep them away than actually confronting them. Trying to work them out was just too complicated right now. It had been that way ever since seeing the witch's labyrinth, and realizing that although she was this girl's prisoner, she was also being protected by her.

When they finished eating, Homura took the plates to the kitchen sink to wash them.

"Um… I'm going to go brush my teeth now, okay?" Madoka said.

Homura glanced over to her. "I told you. You can feel free to move about the room as you like. I just don't want you touching the front door, alright?"

Madoka frowned, once again feeling a little bit of defiance toward the commanding tone, but ultimately accepting it. "Okay."

She went to the bathroom, and realized that the bathtub still hadn't been drained. She didn't drain it earlier because she was trying to sneak out. She stared at the foggy water for a moment, then walked over to it, rolled up her sleeve, and reached in to pull the plug. She ended up watching as the water level receded lower and lower. She became somewhat hypnotised by the tiny whirlpool that formed near the drain. When it finished, it gave one last spit as the last of the water disappeared. Madoka blinked and had to force herself to pull her attention away from it.

She turned back to the mirror so she could brush her teeth. When she saw herself in the mirror, she ended up staring at the pink haired girl who stood there behind the glass, just staring back at her. She looked the same, but somehow different. Maybe it was something as simple as being in a different bathroom, as opposed to the bathroom in her own home that she was use to seeing herself in every day.

Somehow, she knew it was actually much deeper than that. The girl she knew herself to be was disappearing, or at least, becoming less familiar to her. The difference was obvious once she thought of it… that girl she use to know wasn't a prisoner, and this one was.


	28. We need to talk

**Chapter 28**

 **I**

Nagisa laid on her back with her legs hanging off the end of the bed, and her feet kicking up and down as she hummed, staring at the glowing gem which she held above her face.

Mama was going to be alright now. She was really really going to be alright! And it was all thanks to her wish!

For the first time in a long time that afternoon, she had heard her mother's voice - her _real_ voice - and she couldn't wait to go see her in person tomorrow! They could actually talk, and play games, and laugh together just like they always use to. Even better then all of that, they could eat cake together! It was the first cake Nagisa had ever made all by herself, and she couldn't wait for her mother to be the first one to taste it!

"Nagisa?" her aunt's shrill voice called from out in the hall. "Why is your light on? Get to bed now."

Nagisa stuck her tongue out at the closed door. "Ok, sorry _aunty_!" She didn't think her aunt ever picked up on the fact that the extra polite way she sometimes responded was meant as a tease. Nagisa rolled over onto her side and reached her arm out to pull the little drawstring on her lamp.

Not only would she and mama be together again, she wouldn't have to live with her aunt anymore. She was told to respect her aunt, because apparently being allowed to stay with her was just such a huge favor, but she never thought her aunt was very nice at all. She barely seemed to care that Mama, her own sister, was sick. Even today when Mama was all better, aunty didn't even seem all that happy.

 _Oh well_ , Nagisa thought. Pretty soon Mama would be let out of the hospital and it wouldn't matter anymore. When Nagisa thought about it, she felt so excited she knew it would be impossible to sleep. She rolled over and opened her palm to look at the SoulGem nestled inside it. It let out a soft glow which lightly brightened her face. She couldn't wait to try out her new magic too!

Just as she was thinking that, she heard a tap on her window which made her head raise up. She looked over to where the tapping noise came from, but her blinds were drawn so she couldn't see outside. That's when she heard a voice in her head. _"Nagisa? Are you awake?"_

"Oh! It's Mami!" Nagisa said out loud, practically jumping out of her bed. Then she remember how to speak telepathically, and closed her eyes tightly as she concentrated. _"Mami? Is that you?"_

" _Yup, come look out your window."_

Nagisa quickly ran over to the window, practically sprinting, but moving on the tips of her toes to avoid making too much noise. When she threw open the curtain, Mami was right outside, hanging from a yellow ribbon. She had one hand held onto it above her head, and it's bottom end looped around one foot so she could be upright with her other leg and arm dangling behind her.

Mami smiled, and spoke telepathically. _"Want to go out on patrol with us?"_

 _"Oh yeah! definitely!"_ Nagisa thought back. She opened the window and leaned out to look around. She saw Sayaka down below, dressed in her full Magical Girl attire, smiling and waving. _"Oh, weird girl is here too!"_

Sayaka's face quickly became less amused and her arms fell down to her side. _"Seriously, why the hell do you call me that?"_

 _"Because! You listen to that weird music!"_

Mami gave a good humored smile. "Maybe we should move this along?"

"Oh right. Just one second." Nagisa went back into her room then started stuffing pillows under her blanket to make it look like she was still in bed; Just encase aunty peaked in on her. She then went back to the window and took Mami's hand. "Alright! Let's do it!" she said, then became covered in a flash of rainbow light as she transformed and Mami pulled her through the window and into her arms.

 **II**

Having wrapped up the leftovers and finished cleaning the dishes, Homura took a seat at the kitchen bar, and rested her head on the palm of her hand.

Her eyes drifted over to the bedroom door, through the threshold she could see a length of rope still tied to the bedpost at the foot of the bed. She had started on dinner as soon as she freed Madoka that evening, and therefore had not had a chance to clean up in there as she usually did.

She sighed and rubbed the the corners of her eyes. It was getting late, and she was going to have to tie Madoka up again soon. She did not want to, because Madoka had already spent most of the day tied to that bed. She only had about an hour and a half of freedom in the morning before Homura left, then ended up being left there again until dusk, which was only a couple of hours ago. Madoka had probably slept through most of the day though, so Homura figured she could allow her to stay up for a while before putting her to bed again.

She got up from the bar and walked over to the bedroom door, then stood just inside and looked around. The ropes were still on each of the bedposts with their loose ends sitting along the top of the mattress. Over on the dresser was Madoka's pile of clothes. She only had a few days worth of clean outfits left, so Homura would either have to get more clothes for her or find a way to wash them.

Homura felt bad about the circumstances she had to keep Madoka under. It is bad enough that she was being forced to be kept away from her family like this, but on top of that her living arrangements must have been incredibly uncomfortable. Homura did not know what would be better for her, though. Her home apartment, maybe, if she found a way to soundproof a room and keep Madoka locked up in there, but Kyubey would have far too easy of a time finding her there. Any other options Homura could think of consisted of abandoned houses or basements in secluded industrial areas, and those would not have the basic comforts this hotel room offered.

No, this hotel room may not be ideal, but it was still the best she could think of. Here they had running water, a kitchen, TV, and a nice soft bed for Madoka to sleep on… even if she did have to be tied to it most of the time.

If only Madoka were not so insistent on trying to get away, the situation would not have to be so bad. If Homura could simply trust that she would stay put there would be no need to tie her up at all. Although, Homura had to admit she felt somewhat comforted when Madoka _was_ tied up, because after years of constantly worrying about what actions Madoka might take, Homura had discovered there was a sense of relief when she knew exactly where Madoka was, and knew she could not move or find a way to get herself hurt. She knew Madoka hated it, but it had to be done. Homura wasn't doing this just for her own comfort, but for Madoka's safety as well. She didn't want Madoka to hate her her, but as long as Madoka was safe she did not care.

Homura stepped out of the bedroom and turned her back on the bed with the rope still tied to it. In the living room, on the coffee table in front of the TV, the stack of manga she had stolen from the bookstore caught her eye. From past lives, she already knew that Madoka would like the stories and the artwork those books contained, and she had brought them so that Madoka would have another way to entertain herself while she was stuck here. Actually, when Homura was selecting them, there was a certain thought in her head. She had thought it would be nice if she and Madoka could curl up on the couch and read those books together; just like they use to do in Homura's past lives.

Now with that thought crossing her mind, she felt embarrassed, and stupid for thinking this Madoka would want to be that close with her. The truth is, the Madoka who would snuggle up to her was from many many lives ago, and the time between then and now had broken Homura down into someone who could not have such a relationship with anyone.

She raised a hand to her chest and clutched it into a fist over her heart. The thought made tears sting her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and shook her head, pushing away the train of thought her mind had started wandering down. She had to be strong. And who knows, after enough time maybe Madoka would get use to all of this and warm up to her again?

She wanted Madoka to be happy, but happiness was secondary to her safety. Like this, Madoka was safe. Homura had to remind herself of that. It may hurt that Madoka is being reproachful towards her, and that Madoka might be scared of her, but at least she was safe. She was safe!

Homura watched the bathroom door for a moment, thinking Madoka had been in there for quite a while now. She said she was only going to brush her teeth, but had been in there for over ten minutes already.

She felt a quick wave of anxiety. Madoka could have quickly slipped out of the front door while Homura was cleaning up in the kitchen. Would she really try the same trick again so soon? Even after it didn't work the first time?

Homura's feet started moving across the living room. "Madoka," she said, loud enough that Madoka would be able to hear her from inside the bathroom.

No response.

Every time Homura had turned her back over the last few days, Madoka had been up to something. Why would her escape attempts be limited to just one per night? Especially now that the danger Sayaka was in had been revealed, who knows what foolish things Madoka might try?

There was still no response by the time Homura made it to the bathroom door. "Madoka!" she said again, louder, with her hand reaching for the knob.

"W-what!" came Madoka's from behind the door.

Homura's hand stopped, her fingers encircled around the knob without actually grabbing on yet. Her heart was still beating, but the sound of Madoka's voice soothed her anxiety somewhat. It took her a moment to respond, to make sure her tone would be calm. "It's nothing," she said, with a paused. Then, "Are you ok in there?"

Madoka was quiet for long enough that Homura thought she would not respond, but she eventually did. "Yes."

"Okay then," Homura said, then turned away from the bathroom door. She looked at the front door, and set her eyes on the chain-link lock which was still securely fastened. It would be impossible to refasten from the other side of the door after slipping out, so all Homura would have had to do was check that the chain-link was not undone to confirm Madoka had not escaped.

She found herself pacing around in the living room. She wasn't thinking clearly, why hadn't she just checked the chain-link before starting to panic?

"This is not working," she said to herself. Having the door unlockable from the inside meant that she would never be able to fully relax. Therefore, she would have to install another lock on the door. A simple latch which she could put a padlock through would do the trick. No, a combination lock would be better. That way there would be no key for Madoka to try to steal from her, and a combination lock takes longer to undo either way, even if she did figure out the combination somehow. Yes, that would be perfect. She would go pick those things up tomorrow when she made another trip out. Or, perhaps tonight after she put Madoka to bed.

With that plan decided on, she started thinking about the window in the bedroom. It was the only window in the apartment. Madoka couldn't exactly call for help from the streets below while Homura was in the apartment with her. Nor could she climb out of the window. It was too high, and there was nothing for her to grab onto. Still, Homura decided she would have to check on that just incase.

Madoka couldn't yell for help, but perhaps she could drop something out? Like the DVD player, to get someone's attention. Or, she could write a note explaining where she was and asking for help, then throw it down to the streets below.

Homura sat down on the couch. Her hands found themselves on the sides of her head with her fingers combing through her hair and gripping against her skull tightly. Why had she not thought of those things sooner? She had to be more careful, and start thinking things through more thoroughly. Otherwise, Madoka's life would still be in danger.

What was she supposed to do about the window, though? Simply putting a padlock on it was no good because the glass could simply be broken. Nail a piece of plywood over it?

Maybe she really should bring Madoka to an abandoned basement somewhere? She would need time to get at least a few basic living necessities in order. It wouldn't be as comfortable for Madoka, but what choice was there? Madoka couldn't be trusted, and since her safety came first, maybe it would be better?

Then the bathroom door opened, and Madoka stepped out. Homura's head lifted up as she was pulled out of her thoughts. She could feel Madoka's presence, standing just a few paces behind her.

"Um… H-Homura?" Madoka asked, in a meek voice. Homura's head turned slightly in response. "There's…"

Homura turned more fully to look at her. Madoka's face was turned to the side, and she stared at the ground. Her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying again.

"What's wrong? Madoka?" Homura asked as softly as she could.

Madoka shook her head, and tried to strengthen her face as she looked back at Homura. When Madoka was angry she didn't seem to have a problem being assertive, but now that her rage from earlier had subsided, it seemed she was having a little more trouble getting the words out and speaking her mind. "We- we need to talk!"

 **III**

There was a chair with a woven straw back in the far corner of the living room, which didn't get much use and seemed to mostly be for decorative purposes. Madoka pulled it up and sat adjacent to the coffee table, apparently deciding she didn't want to sit on the couch with Homura while they talked about whatever it is she wanted to talk about.

Madoka's demeanor was weaker than it had been before, and Homura wasn't sure what the change was. It wasn't the dull and distant - _depressed_ \- attitude she had this morning, thankfully. The way she was now, the way her head stayed down, and her eyes were always finding themselves on the floor. Her body language was simply subdued.

"What did you want to talk about?" Homura asked.

"Well… I… I know there is nothing I can say that can convince you to just let me go home. But, the way things are… I mean…" Homura raised an eyebrow as Madoka struggled to find the right words to form her complaint. "M-mainly, with getting tied up… something needs to change with that."

"I was just thinking about the same thing." Homura said, her static tone not revealing much else.

"Okay... well..." Madoka watched her, anticipating for her to expand those thoughts. Homura didn't say anything else, and when they made eye contact Madoka nervously glanced away again with her face reddening. "S-so what, then?"

Homura closed her eyes, feeling some vague annoyance as she ran through her earlier thoughts again. She had not come to a conclusion about how to deal with the problem. Each train of thought ultimately led back to the fact that Madoka couldn't be trusted, and therefore Homura couldn't give her much freedom. She had explained to Madoka before how important trust was, but Madoka constantly betrayed her by attempting to escape; even after swearing she wouldn't anymore.

"I don't know," Homura finally answered. Deciding not to get into her thoughts of nailing plywood over windows and padlocking doors. "Do _you_ have any ideas?"

Madoka seemed surprised by that. "Me?" she asked. Homura nodded, her cool gaze making Madoka even more nervous. Madoka tried to force some aggression into her voice, apparently self aware of her diffidence and trying to combat it. "Well, how am I supposed to know?"

Homura folded her arms. "Last time I tried to make things more comfortable for you I ended up having to chase you across town. You put yourself in serious danger by doing that, Madoka. I wish you would understand."

Madoka's fists balled up against the cloth of her pajama bottoms. She voiced her complaint in a small voice, already losing the forced aggression from a moment ago. "It… it's not like I asked for any of this, you know."

That made Homura feel guilty, but she shook it off and reminded herself it was all for Madoka's own good. "I know…" she said, simply.

They were both silent for a while, though Madoka still seemed to be struggling with something. "Why did you…" There was no easy way of breaking into it, so she ended up just spitting it out all at once, then blushing furiously once the words here spoken: "W-why did you try to kiss me!?"

Homura's eyes widened and a light blush hit her own face, struck by how sudden the question had come. She stared at the small pinkette who kept her vision down on the ground, her body was tense with her head forcing itself down into her shoulders. Her lips tightened into a nervous frown.

Homura thought it over, and couldn't quite think of how to answer. She knew why, but it wasn't something she could easily explain in words even to herself, let alone vocalize to Madoka.

That morning, when Madoka was tied to the bed and crying, Homura just felt so bad for her, and wanted to comfort her somehow. However, when Madoka turned away, and told Homura not to touch her, something snapped.

All she wanted was to protect Madoka, and she needed to make Madoka understand how much she cared for her. By denying the attempt to console her, Homura worried that Madoka really didn't understand. So, she had decided to _make_ her understand. Homura wasn't very tactful, she knew that about herself; she didn't have smooth words which could put Madoka at ease. So she expressed it in the only way she could, and next thing she knew she found herself on top of her.

With Madoka in her hands, completely restrained underneath her… Homura felt something. She did love Madoka after all, and that face which stared back at her was the same face who use to love her in return. Homura wanted to believe that love was still there, and thus her attempts to console Madoka had become more selfish. With Madoka under her control, she could have just taken whatever she wanted. In a past life, she had felt those soft lips against her own, and even now that selfish part of her wanted to feel it again.

"Well?" Madoka pressed on, though somewhat timidly. Her hand found itself on the opposing forearm and she hugged herself defensively. Her face was red, and she refused to look at Homura.

 _She's afraid of me_. With that thought, Homura felt a sinking feeling in her chest. _Of course she would be… after everything I've done to her, and the fact that she really is powerless against me. Anyone in her position would be scared of someone like me._

"Madoka," she said as she started to stand, "Listen, I-"

"C-can you stay on the couch, please?" Madoka asked, before Homura was even in a full stand. Homura froze, with her knees half bent, but she complied and sat back down. She went back to thinking over what to say. How could she make Madoka understand that all she wanted was what was best for her? She didn't want to hurt her.

"I imagine it's hard to understand," Homura finally said. The change in her tone made Madoka raise her head, and she eyed her cautiously. "Every time I go back it's like everything is being erased for everyone except me. All of the moments we shared, our conversations. It's like none of it ever happened, and the only things that remain are my own memories of it."

Even this explanation she was giving to Madoka. She had explained all of this to her in past lives, though this was the earliest point in a time loop that she had ever tried. Normally it would be weeks before she could even make Madoka believe she was from the future. Even as she spoke the words, she wasn't sure if Madoka could really understand.

"Imagine if you left this hotel room, ran back home, and when you walked through the front door of your house and stood in front of your parents they looked at you as if you were a complete stranger. Imagine if they lost all memory of who you are, and no matter how desperately you tried to explain to them, they would just think you were crazy." She had used this analogy to explain it to Madoka before, too. Whether Madoka believed her or not, simply having such a scenario described to her was always enough to make Madoka's eyes start to glaze over with tears. "That is what my life is like. It happens again and again, more times then I would be able to count, even if I cared to keep track."

"Homu… ra?" Madoka whispered.

"I'm sorry about what happened this morning. I know from your point of view we have only just met, and I have been nothing but horrible to you. Just try to understand… to me, you are so much more."

"Well, saying you were _nothing_ but horrible to me… I don't think that is fair. Still, this is all very strange, and it's all so sudden." She took in a deep breath, "I… I don't like you tying me up, but if you need to I suppose I can't really stop you. I mean, if you do, just…" her frown deepened. "Just, don't touch me like that anymore! Th-this morning wasn't the first time either. Something changes with you when I'm like that. I-I don't think you are going to hurt me… But…"

"I… won't do it again," Homura said, guiltily. She supposed she couldn't defend her actions, and didn't try.

"Good. I mean…" Madoka's hand rubbed against her forearm. "When I'm in that position… where I can't do anything. I-it's not right to force yourself on me like that…"

Homura instantly lifted her head and raised her tone, to squash the idea of what Madoka implied as quickly as possible. "I-I would never do something you didn't want! I swear!"

"I know," Madoka said, making actual eye contact with her for once. She gave a small reassuring smile. "You did stop… but, just don't put me in that position again. Okay? It's… it's not right."

Homura nodded, and let her tone became more resigned. "You _do_ understand that I do not want to hurt you. Right?"

"I… I do believe that." The statement implied there were other things which she _didn't_ believe, but it was at least reassuring to know she knew Homura would not hurt her.

They both became quiet for a while. The conversation seeming to have come to an end.

Homura glanced over to the stack of Manga. "Um… I imagine you are not tired yet. It's getting late, but you can stay up as long as you want."

Madoka simply nodded her head, understanding what _going to bed_ meant for her, as long as she was a captive in this hotel room.

Homura picked up the stack of Manga and moved them down the coffee table to where Madoka could reach them. "I got these for you. I figured simply watching TV all the time could start to get boring." There was a rather weak attempt at humor in her voice. When Madoka didn't respond to it, she felt embarrassed. "Anyway, they are here if you want them."

Madoka's hand eventually reached over to the stack. She turned the spines of the books towards herself so she could read the titles, and her thumb flipped up the top corners, making a shuffling sound as she quickly scrolled through them. "Which one would you recommend?" she asked.

Homura smiled, took the stack from her and looked through before selecting one and handing it over to Madoka. "Here, this one can be a rather tragic story at times, but it is quite good."

Madoka took the book from her and looked at the cover. It displayed three girls in matching highschool uniforms huddled close together and smiling. In the background there were darkly shaded silhouettes of three other characters standing behind them: two were dressed in heavy battle armor and the one in the middle look to be some kind of princess. There was a rather sinister presence of these background characters, which was a sharp contrast to the more inviting atmosphere of the girls in the foreground.

"Tragic?" Madoka asked, not really feeling in the mood for a sad story, though the cover did pique her interest.

"Well, at times, but not always. All in all it's… rather inspiring really. Well, I don't want to spoil anything but I'm sure you will like it." She actually knew for a fact that Madoka would like it. Her past Madoka's all had a certain obsession with the main pairing of the story, and often commented on how cute she found them to be. Also, the main character's hard headed best friend reminded Madoka of Sayaka.

Homura remembered an earlier timeline when she would walk to school with the two of them. One day Madoka had teased Sayaka with the comparison, and Sayaka, having not read the Manga, was rather confused and didn't quite get what Madoka was going on about. She eventually delivered some foolish line about how her "wife" simply couldn't keep her mind off of her, then proceeded to assault Madoka by tickling her. Homura had laughed at the time, while Hitomi just palmed her face in embarrassment.

In truth, Homura often felt a bit of jealousy toward Sayaka's close relationship with Madoka. Especially after many more timelines had past, and she started losing her own ability to be friendly with them. Try as she might, she started pushing Madoka away while Madoka's undying love for Sayaka always remained strongly intact.

"Um… do you want something to drink?" Homura asked, forcing herself away from her thoughts. "I bought some packs of instant cocoa, if you'd like."

Madoka was reading the appraisals on the back cover. She looked up from it and gave Homura a halfhearted smile. "Yes, that would be nice."

Homura returned the smile, then got up to go fetch it for her.

Madoka watched her as she walked into the kitchen. When she disappeared behind the bar, Madoka looked back to the manga she was holding, and flipped open the cover.

A wave of guilt spread through her…

...She understood how Homura felt about her. And thanks to those feelings Homura had revealed to her, Madoka understood that she wasn't powerless after all. There was at least one edge she had over her captor. However, in order to take advantage of that power, she would have to do something horribly cruel to this girl. This girl who was already broken, and who had shown what was in her heart…

Madoka had a plan forming. One which she knew was cruel, and heartless… But what choice did she have?

 **IV**

Kyoko put her back against the wall of the alley. The heads of three shadows bounced along the roadway right next to her, and she cautiously leaned to the side just enough to peek out into the street through the corner of her eye. She saw the three girls walking together, each of them dressed in their Magical Girl attire. The smallest girl, whom Kyoko picked up was named Nagisa, was between the two older girls and skipped along merrily.

 _She's young,_ Kyoko thought, _even younger than I was when I contracted._ She probably would not be worth much now, but given a few years that girl may develop into an incredibly powerful Magical Girl one day. Kyoko's eyes narrowed. _Too bad for her, I won't be giving her that chance. This territory is mine, and she's in my way, just like the rest of them._

Her lips lowered into an unhappy frown as she listened to their voices echoing down the street. Mami casually told them about her early days as a Magical Girl, and how she went about learning new techniques with her own magic.

The older of the two rookies, Sayaka, let out an idiotic laugh like she thought this was all a game. "I don't know if I'll be able to come up with anything as awesome as your magic though, Mami."

The younger girl giggled, "You could always try just boring the witches to death with that weird music like."

"Uhg, are you still on that? Look, it's an acquired taste! You are just too young to appreciate it!"

"Now, now," Mami said, with a good humored tone, "We _are_ out on a patrol, so it is best to stay focused."

Kyoko quickly ran down the alley until she was hidden in the shadows, then ducked down beside a pile of broken wooden crates and watched as the girls walked by. Once they cleared the opening, Kyoko ran back and peeked around the corner, to watch their backs as they walked away in the opposite direction. She then scanned the street for the next vantage point to stalk them from.

She figured tonight was a golden opportunity for her. These two rookies were freshly contracted and therefore would practically be useless in a fight. Although, Kyoko wasn't actually looking for a fight. Her plan was to follow them around, wait for them to find a witch, and then swoop in at the last moment and snatch the GriefSeed from them. It would be a great way of announcing her presence in town, and declaring war on the currently occupying Magical Girls.

The long term game would be for her to strategically pick out locations around where Mami and the other girls lived which would be likely to contain witches. The idea was to snatch up as many GriefSeeds as she could (while these girls were at school) and simply deprive this team of magic. After a while they would be so weak it would be no problem for Kyoko to crush them all by herself. Mami's tendency to go after familiars would help with this even more, and the simple fact that keeping three SoulGems clean over just one put Kyoko at an even bigger strategic advantage. If she was lucky, and these rookies were smart, there is a chance the three girls would end up turning on each other once they became desperate with their magic running low.

She grinned to herself. A bit of an underhanded method, maybe, but this was war. At first she thought Homura might make a good ally for herself, but after their conversation earlier Kyoko realized she may have overestimated the dark Magical Girl a bit. Sure, she seemed like she was pretty powerful in a fight, but she was a fool if she thought five Magical Girls could last as a team in a city this size. Even coexisting was unlikely. What Homura said about a Walpurgisnacht caught Kyoko's interest, but she had no reason to believe it. Homura didn't exactly seem entirely _stable_ ; the relationship with her petgirl proved that.

As the three girls rounded a corner Kyoko ran up to a building's wall, and used magic enhanced pulls and jumps to silently scale up the side. After landing softly on the roof, she then continued to stalk the girls from above.

She once again found herself wondering about the exact dynamic between Homura and her pet… "Madoka" was her name. Kyoko originally heard from Kyubey that Homura had kidnapped her for the purpose of preventing her from making a contract. After actually seeing them together, however, Kyoko quickly realized that there had to be more to the story than just that. Homura certainly cared for her, there was no doubting that. If Kyubey's scenario were the truth than Homura's treatment of her captive would have been much rougher than what Kyoko had witnessed.

The more surprising thing is that Madoka seemed to care for her in return. Kyoko figured if someone ever tried to slap a collar on _her_ the only thought in her mind would be murder. She certainly wouldn't take any sympathy on a captor who was dumb enough to blow herself up. Madoka _should_ have taken that as an opportunity to escape, but instead she had begged Kyoko to help the dumbass out by sharing her GriefSeed. Were they _both_ just totally nuts? Or was petgirl the type of person who was just really into being treated like that? Apparently there was a word for it… Maso… Maso- _something_ , but Kyoko couldn't remember it.

Kyoko laughed to herself. Coming back to Mitakihara might have been more of a pain in the ass than she asked for, thanks to the sudden influx of Magical Girls, but at least things around here were entertaining these days.

She had become somewhat lost in her thoughts, then quickened her pace to catch up with the three girls who she was stalking. They walked up to an alleyway and the three of them peaked around a corner. Kyoko went to the buildings edge, directly above them, and peaked down to see what they were looking at.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed in annoyance when she saw a dog-like familiar sniffing around in the alley. "You gotta be kidding me…" she whispered to herself. When she saw the girls take battle stances to confront the lowly familiar, Kyouko palmed her face. She was hoping they would go after a witch so she could steal a GriefSeed from them, but NO! They were going to waste their night hunting damn familiars!

"What a damn waste of time!" she muttered to herself. She reached into her tunic and produced a box of pocky with a sigh. She then took a seat and assessed her options.

Well… she thought, suddenly grinning to herself. _This doesn't mean I can't go 'head an cause a little trouble for em anyway…_


	29. Can't sleep?

**I**

"So that thing really hurts people?" Nagisa asked, as she Mami and Sayaka all peaked around the corner of an ally together, one standing over the other with Mami on top, Sayaka in the middle, and Nagisa at the bottom. "It looks so cute though."

There was a creature which could most closely be compared to a puppy pacing around the alley. It had a box shaped head which was way out of proportion with its comparatively small body. There were three black marbles for eyes on the flat surface of what you could call it's face, and two holes below them for nostrils which it used to sniff around a pile of trash.

"Even so," Mami whispered back to Nagisa, "If we just allow it to run free, there is no doubt that it will try to attack a human one day. They do not always look like this one, and often appear more fitting to what they actually are, but whatever it may look like you need to understand that these familiars are dangerous."

The familiar must have heard them talking, because it stopped what it was doing and turned towards them. It sat back on it's haunches, and let it's mouth fall open, splitting its boxy head into two rectangles. There were dozens of sharp white triangles for teeth, and a red tongue flopped out and hung out of the creature's mouth as it sat there and panted at them.

Mami stepped out into the opening, and summoned a musket into her hands. She pointed the barrel down the alleyway and lowered her head to take aim. Sayaka took the cue and reached to the side as she summoned a sword into her grasp, also taking a battle ready stance beside Mami.

They had briefly given Nagisa an introductory training exercise in the park before taking her out on this hunt, so she already knew how to summon her weapon and did so on the opposite side of Mami from Sayaka. Her weapon looked like a cross between a miniature trumpet and a water gun. If she were to blow on it, bubbles would come out.

At first they were not entirely sure how her bubbles could be utilized, until Sayaka had cautiously touched one to see if it would hurt. When it popped the liquid it was made of absorbed itself into her and gave her a refreshed feeling. They realized that Nagisa's magic must be supportive, but Mami said she could probably develop the ability to create different kinds of bubbles once she had more control over her magic. Mami suggested that their next training exercise should be teaching Nagisa to create bubbles which can be used offensively as well.

"Okay Sayaka, since you need the practise why don't you take care of this one?" Mami said, still with her gun trained on the familiar who just stared back at the group, panting with it's tongue hanging out and dripping black droplets of drool. "Nagisa, you can go in too but stay behind Sayaka and just try to support her with your bubbles, if you can. I'll be right here to step in encase things start to go poorly."

They both nodded, and started walking forward with Sayaka taking the lead. She was disappointed that it was just a familiar, it's not that she cared a whole lot about collecting GriefSeeds, but there is a certain someone who they would have a better chance of running into if it _was_ a full blown witch. After finding Madoka's ribbon in her house she was sure that meant Madoka had been there and left it as a sign. The fact she left such a vague message instead of leaving a note or something meant she must have been forced to leave under duress, meaning Homura had done something to her.

"Alright little guy," Sayaka said as she approached the strange creature which just stared back at her innocently. "Just stay right there!" She suddenly jumped forward, raising her sword high into the air and then slashing downward.

The familiar jumped out of the way just before the hit would have landed, much to Sayaka's surprise. When she looked to the side, she saw it's tongue extending and coming at her. The tongue split in half down the middle and opened up, revealing that the tongue itself was another mouth which was also filled with those rows of sharp triangular teeth. "Gah!" Sayaka yelled, and swung her sword at the tongue-mouth. It's teeth clenched around her blade and she grunted as she tried to hold it off. The creature itself was making a growling noise from it's much bigger box-mouth as it's tongue tried to overpower her.

"Nagisa!" Mami shouted.

"Oh! Uh-um!" Nagisa quickly put her lips around the nozzle of her trumpet and blew. A series of bubbles came out in response. The ones with a light blue hue floated over to Sayaka, others were clear and simply floated up into the sky where they popped with no noticeable effects.

The blue bubbles gathered around Sayaka and expanded as they sunk into her, and when they disappeared they were replaced by a blue light which painted itself onto Sayaka and began to glow brighter, covering her in an aura.

Sayaka let out a battlecry, suddenly feeling an extra burst of power flowing through her body and strengthening her muscles. She tensed up and managed to cut cleanly through it's tongue with a heavy slash to the right, spraying black ooze as the blade ripped out of the tongue-mouths grasp.

Watching the spray and hearing the creature scream seemed to sooth a certain burning in her chest. Three days and they were not any closer to finding Madoka. Somewhere, Homura was out there doing god knows what to her, and all Sayaka wanted was a chance to take her one on one and make her pay for ever messing with her friend!

Sayaka screamed as she dove forward with her blade and speared the creature right through it's head. It let out a hissing sound that was quite unlike any dog she had ever heard as it's oddly shaped legs stumbled back awkwardly. Sayaka kept it close, advancing on its retreat and slashing at it whenever she could. Eventually backed into a corner, it gave up resistance and screamed that monstrous sound until one more slash created a last horrifying burst and the creature fell limp. It's body lost its form and began to dissolve.

Sayaka stepped back, breathing heavy and watching the creature as it dissipated. She had a wide almost unbelieving look in her eyes as she watched. "I did it…" She looked down at the sword in her hand and grinned, not expecting that this would be such an invigorating feeling. "Alright!" She laughed and turned to Nagisa. "I mean, we really did it, huh?"

Nagisa just returned the smile and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Yeah we did! That thing definitely stopped being cute too. I can see how it would be dangerous, so I'm glad we took it out."

Mami dispelled her muskett and stepped forward, briefly clapping her hands. "Good job you two! Not bad at all for your first one."

Nagisa was about to turn and respond to Mami, but she heard a sound and with it something caught her eye. She looked up and noticed a red figure standing on top of one of the shorter buildings along the alleyway, hidden in the shadow of another building which stood next to it.

"Huh?" Sayaka looked behind herself to see whatever it was Nagisa was looking at.

The person clicked her teeth and began to turn, until Mami stepped forward and said, "Sakura-san!" which stopped the red girl from walking away. Her crimson tunic was already turned to them, and a fist clenched at her side. Mami grinned, and folded her arms. "It's been a long time. Kyoko!"

 **II**

They sat on opposite sides of the couch, Madoka reading the manga Homura had offered her, and Homura reading a novel she had randomly grabbed from the bookstore. It was a peculiar feeling for Homura, for she had not taken part in a leisurely activity like this in longer than she could remember. Normally she spent the two month span of any timeline on constant guard. Either fighting witches, manipulating the paths of her friends to attempt to give them better outcomes, and keeping an eye on Madoka so Kyubey would not manipulate her into a contract, or stopping that foolish girl _Sayaka Miki_ from putting Madoka into even further danger as she often did.

In this new timeline, Homura did not have to worry so much. She had Madoka right here, right in front of her, and she was safe.

Still, Homura could only concentrate on her book with half a mind. She often found herself peeking over the cover and just watching Madoka as she sat there with her manga. Many past lives ago, Homura had been curled up side by side with Madoka as they read from that same story together. That was a dear memory of Homura's, and a desperate part of her heart longed to have it back. This Madoka did not want that, though, she knew that, and she supposed she would have to accept it. At least for now.

Madoka turned the final page and closed the book, then noticed Homura staring at her. Madoka blushed and glanced away awkwardly. "What?" she asked.

"Oh… nothing. Um, what did you think?" It was only the first of three volumes, the other two still sat insides the stack.

"It started out really cute, but it's starting to seem like it's getting a little sad too."

"Yeah… it is a good story though, don't you think?"

Madoka smiled, "It is, I just hope it has a happy ending."

"It-"

"Don't spoil it!" Madoka quickly interrupted before Homura could continue. Then she grinned awkwardly, her eyes seemed unsure where they wanted to go. "Um… I do like it so far though."

Homura smiled, "Good, I thought you would."

Madoka returned the book to the top of the stack then ran her thumb through until she found the next volume and slid it out. "Um… hows your book?" The way her eyes had trouble staying on Homura showed it was difficult for her to speak casually to her. Homura couldn't blame her, but appreciated that she was at least trying.

Homura actually hadn't paid much attention to her own book. Her eyes would go across the pages without really taking the words in, as her mind had mostly been on the girl who sat on the other side of the couch from her. "It's too early to tell," she said, simply.

Madoka forced a smile, "Yeah, novels can be like that sometimes." She opened up the second volume of the manga and began reading.

Homura leaned forward and looked through the bedroom door where she could see the DVD player which had the time displayed: 12:53.

It was getting late, and she thought about commenting on the time. She stopped herself, though. There was no way she could point out how late it was without it seeming like she was telling Madoka to go to bed, and what that implied coming along with it. She let her eyes drift back down to her book as Madoka started reading hers.

Homura actually was starting to feel quite tired herself. Her eyes started to feel heavy as they scanned across the pages.

After nearly a half hour of silence she caught her head nodding off, but quickly jolted her eyes back open. When she did so, she caught Madoka quickly ducking back behind her own book, and Homura could easily imagine the guilty frown on her face.

Homura's suspicious side pulled at her, wondering if Madoka was anticipating another opportunity to escape. Again, she supposed she could not blame Madoka for wishing for such an opportunity, but she did need to keep her eyes open. Homura set the book on the table, still open with the pages down, and stood.

Madoka peeked over the top cover and watched her as she picked up the empty cocoa mugs and walked back to the kitchen with them. When Homura came back into the living room she said, "It's getting late, don't you think?"

Madoka simply nodded her head in response. Then after a moment of silence she said, "Just let me finish this chapter, ok?"

"Sorry. I mean, you can stay up as late as you want… I was just commenting…"

"No, you're right. It is late."

Homura then walked to the bathroom. Before going in she said, "I'll be able to hear you, so don't try sneaking past."

When she was done and she stepped back into the living room, Madoka had already disappeared from the couch. Homura glanced over to the door to see the chain-link was still fastened. She walked back to the bedroom to find Madoka already sitting on the side of the bed waiting for her. _That's a first_ , Homura thought.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Homura asked as she walked over to her. Madoka nodded her head while just staring at the ground in front of her. "Okay then, lay down."

"Um…" Madoka moved her hands together so that her wrists were touching and showed it to Homura. "Can you just tie my hands together like this instead?" Her eyes shifted, "I guess… so I can roll over if I want to?"

Homura thought it over, examining the bedframe and trying to decide if it would be secure enough like that. She didn't like having to be so suspicious of Madoka, but she knew she had to assume Madoka would take any chance she could of escaping. "Stand up," Homura said, walking closer to her.

"W-why?"

"I need to make sure you didn't hide anything."

Madoka seemed to have lost that defiant side of herself, at least for tonight, as she stood up and stepped away from the bed without complaint. While part of Homura did like Madoka's more docile side, as it was easier to deal with, it also had a way of making her worry. Those weak moments from the girl she otherwise knew to be strong and willful made Homura worry if Madoka really was going to be okay.

 **III**

Nagisa squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the red girl on top of the building.

Sayaka looked over to Mami. "Who's that?"

"Kyoko Sakura," Mami explained, "She is another Magical Girl."

"Oh! Hey!" Sayaka called up to Kyoko, "It's nice to meet you!"

 _So, she's another Magical Girl,_ Nagisa thought excitedly. Between Mami, Sayaka, and Kyubey, Nagisa already made three great friends. Maybe this girl could be a fourth one? "Um, yeah!" Nagisa called up to her as well, "Um… I'm Nagisa Momoe!"

"Right, and I'm Sayaka-"

"Idiots!" Kyoko shouted, cutting Sayaka off.

"Huh?" Sayaka took a step back and looked over to Mami uncertainly. Mami folded her arms and put a stern look on her face.

"You morons!" Kyoko continued, now turning to face them. She came out into the light and put her foot up on the ledge of the building as she looked down on them. She was pretty, and had beautiful long crimson red hair like Nagisa had never seen before, but there was a rather mean look on her face. "That wasn't a witch. It was a familiar! Way to just waste your magic on a useless target!"

Nagisa looked between her two friends uncertainly, and Sayaka clenched a fist, seeming like she was about to say something. Mami put out an open palm to signal Sayaka and Nagisa back. "Let me handle this," she said to them, then moved in front of them and looked up to Kyoko who just stared back at her with that mean look in her eyes. "I see you have not changed at all, Sakura-san."

Kyoko clicked her teeth. "I should say the same to you! Haven't you learned anything? Why are you teaming up with a couple of rookies? Those losers are just going to cause you trouble!"

"They were both selected by Kyubey to become Magical Girls, and therefore I am sure they will do just fine."

"Oh, I get it!" Kyoko grinned, "So, you are just going to use them to do your dirty work. Then you'll take all the Grief Seeds for yourself and toss these two losers to the side when they aint useful to ya' anymore. Right?" Kyoko bent over and let out a mocking laugh.

"Where would you even get an idea like that?" Mami shouted back at her, "I know it is hard for a recluse like yourself to understand, but not everyone thinks in such a selfish and devious manner. These are my friends, and together we are going to defend the city as equal partners!"

"You ain't defending crap," Kyoko sneered. "Not if you're wasting all your magic on useless targets! What's going to happen when you are fighting a real witch and run out of magic? Huh? Bet you'll be regretting this idiotic egotrip then! Miss _Hero of Justice_!"

Mami was silent for a moment, and Sayaka stepped to her senpai's side and raised her fist at Kyoko. "Alright, I don't know what your deal is but if you are saying you would just let the familiars go free and hurt people, then you are not worth listening to! Mami's a _real_ Magical Girl! She isn't some selfish poser like you!"

Nagisa nodded and stepped forward to Mami's other side then pointed up at Kyoko. "Yeah! So why don't you just go away! _Mean girl!_ "

Kyoko let out an even louder bout of laughter. "HA! Well listen to that, one day under their belts and the rookies already think they know what ' _being a real Magical Girl'_ means. You know, I really pity you idiots." She wiped her sneering face on the back of her wrist. "Well understand this: Being a Magical Girl is a competition, there ain't no room for friendship! Just you wait, when things get rough and there isn't enough Grief Seeds to go around, Mami is going to turn her back and betray both of you!"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed as she stepped back, sinking into the shadows once again. Nagisa couldn't help feeling like those intense crimson-red eyes were staring directly at her, but despite feeling nervous she stared back with a brave curve on her lips.

The mean girl grinned, "That is, if you are not the ones to stab her in the back first. If you are smart that's exactly what you'll do." and with that, she turned away and ran off into the shadows, out of sight, leaving the three of them behind.

Mami quickly raised her musket and fired a ribbon up at the area Kyoko had been, and held on tight as it retracted and pulled her up through the air. She landed on top of the building and looked around, but Kyoko was already nowhere to be seen. Mami looked back to her two Kohai who stood below. "I am sorry about that," she said, calmly. "I knew that Kyoko had come back to Mitakihara, but I was hoping she would not wish to make us her enemies. It seems that is not going to be the case, however." Mami sighed as she glanced in the direction Kyoko had run off in. "Please, do not take anything she said seriously. She wasn't always like that, but these days she is just a cold hearted cynic."

Sayaka and Nagisa looked at eachother and noded. "Of course we wouldn't listen to her," Sayaka said, "Anyone could tell she was just spewing crap, there's no way we would take the word of someone like that over you, Mami."

"Yeah! There is no way we are going to listen to what that mean girl says!" Nagisa agreed.

"Thank you…" Mami said, "But, since she is in our town I think I should explain exactly what my relationship with her is." She looked back to them and smiled. "How about we call it a night for now and head back to my apartment? I've got some pastries we can snack on."

"Alright sounds good, I'm in!" Sayaka said.

"Yeah, me too!" Nagisa cheered.

Nagisa hadn't expected that there would be Magical Girls like that as well, she just assumed they would all be nice like Sayaka and Mami. She trailed a little bit behind the two older girls as they led the way. _Oh well,_ she thought, at least she had two friends who she could have fun with. And what the mean girl said about Mami betraying them was just ridiculous. Mami was too nice, there is no way she would ever do something like that.

 **IV**

Madoka watched as Homura lifted the mattress and looked under it, then patted all along the bedsheets and pillows trying to find if Madoka hid anything. Madoka just stood there silently, holding onto herself and rubbing her forearm anxiously.

When Homura was done she turned to Madoka and said, "I'm sorry, I just had to be sure. Are you positive there is nothing else you're up to?"

Madoka shook her head.

"I'm going to try and make this more comfortable for you. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but considering what happened last night, I really shouldn't…" Madoka's hand held tighter to her forearm. Why did those words make her feel so guilty? "If you do try anything, understand I won't be able to keep taking the chance. It's for your own safety that you stay in here, you know."

Madoka hated to hear about how all of this was for her own good. As for being up to something… she did have a reason for wanting to be tied differently, and it was not just for comfort, although that was still a benefit. The plan she had was not what Homura thought, and it would not mean she'd be able to escape tonight either… but maybe, it could open up another opportunity in the future.

She shook her head. "I-I'm not up to anything." She hated how small her voice came out. Her throat felt dry for some reason, and though she wouldn't look at Homura she could feel Homura's eyes on her. Madoka couldn't help this strange idea in her head that Homura could read her mind and already knew what she was doing.

"Okay then. I suppose you can come sit back down." Homura then turned to start undoing one of the knots of rope around the bedpost as Madoka walked over and took a seat. Homura retrieved the rope then kneeled down infront of her and held a hand out, asking Madoka to offer her own. Madoka placed her wrists together and held them out. Her head shrank down into her shoulders and she closed her eyes as she felt the rope touch her skin and begin to bind her.

Homura was delicate with Madoka's hands as she worked. She actually always was very gentle as long as Madoka was sitting still and allowing her to do what she wanted. It's only those times when Madoka tried to resist her that she ended up being rough, and sometimes hurt her. Madoka brought her mind back to that night when Homura put her arms in that painful position behind her back, she tried to remind herself how angry she should be at Homura for doing that to her. Somehow, she wasn't finding that anger because part of her realized she hadn't really given Homura a choice in the matter.

"I'm going to pull it tight now," Homura warned her, and used one hand to brace Madoka's forearm. "Ready?" Madoka nodded her head and tensed up as Homura's other hand pulled hard on the rope and tightened the knot. "There, all done," she said with a soft voice.

Madoka peaked her eyes open and looked at it. Maybe Homura wasn't a bad person, but she had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't okay. It wasn't okay! She had to do anything she could to get out.

"Here, open your hands. Let me feel them." Madoka uncurled her fingers as she was asked. An odd feeling crept down her spine as Homura pressed her palm, and then held a few individual fingers in her hand. "It feels okay?" Homura asked, "No tingly feeling? No coldness?"

Madoka shook her head. "It's fine."

"Okay." She allowed Madoka to curl her fingers down again, then took her by her bound wrists and led her up to the bedpost. Madoka crawled across the bed on her knees, following Homura's guidance, until her hands were right up to the wooden bar. Homura had one knee up on the bed as she finished the final knot. She had left a loose strand of rope hanging from Madoka's wrists and looped it through the wooden bar then tied it again at the center of Madoka's wrists where her fingers would not be able to reach it. "There, this should be fine."

Madoka sat on her knees for a moment, staring at the bindings with her hands folded in front of her. Here she was again, unable to go anywhere even if she wanted to. She would be stuck like this until Homura untied her again. She cautiously looked over to Homura, who just watched her for a moment, then smiled and said, "It should be a little more comfortable than before. You can lay down now."

"Y-yeah…" Madoka agreed, then lowered herself down until her head was on the pillow with her arms raised above her head. She tucked her knees up into herself. Being like this still made her feel quite vulnerable, and therefore nervous.

Homura walked down to the foot of the bed and started undoing the rope on the bottom posts. Madoka's head shot over to her. "W-what are you doing?" she asked anxiously.

"Just putting these away, there's no need for them."

"Oh…" Madoka hated this defenceless feeling. These ropes around her wrists were not even required for Homura to have power over her. The moment Homura came into her life a few days ago, Madoka stopped being a free person who could have a will of her own. It's such a simple thing, and something she had taken for granted all her life. Now that her freedom had been stripped from her, she understood how precious it was.

There was still that one method she thought of earlier which could possibly give her at least some control back. As she watched Homura take the loose strands of rope back to the closet, Madoka tried to speak but found her voice catching in her throat. She once again had that fear that Homura would see right through her. She was never a very manipulative person in the first place, and she honestly felt quite guilty about it.

"Okay," Homura said as she finished cleaning up, "Do you need anything else?"

Madoka shook her head.

Homura watched her for a moment. Her upper arms were over her head with her wrists tied above her. She had her knees still tucked up to her stomach, and perhaps Homura took this as a sign she might be cold. Homura walked over, "Here," she said as she pulled the bedsheet out from under her and then laid it over her body. Madoka looked up at her through the corners of her eyes and Homura smiled as she tucked her in. Her hand then reached out to pat Madoka's head, but when Madoka receded back Homura remembered what they talked about earlier and stopped. "Goodnight," she said simply, without touching her, then turned around to walk out of the room.

Madoka watched her as she went, suddenly feeling a small sinking in her heart. When Homura turned the light off, that sinking feeling increased. She remembered that bad dream she had while Homura was out earlier today, and more than that she remembered the horrible labyrinth that Homura and Kyoko had saved her from. She was about to be left alone in this dark room, and fear started to pull at her. Fear which was further incited by a sense of loneliness, and that feeling of being powerless and vulnerable from having her hands bound.

"H-Homura," Madoka said, by the time the taller girl was just a silhouette exiting the doorway.

She turned, "What is it?"

"Can you…" She gulped. She still had that mean plan in her head, but she also just really did not want to be alone right now. "D-do you think you could stay with me…" her voice was small, "Just until I fall asleep?"

Homura delayed for a moment, then walked back inside. She looked around for somewhere to sit but didn't see anything, so she went over to the bed and cautiously took a seat on the side of it, next to Madoka. "Is this okay?" she asked, "I can move…"

"No. It's fine."

They did not say much to each other for a while. Madoka closed her eyes, trying to let herself sleep, while Homura just sat there. She thought finding comfort in Homura is something she _shouldn't_ want, but like it or not she was afraid of being alone, and Homura is all she had. She peaked her eyes open. Homura was watching her, but quickly glanced away when she realized Madoka's eyes had opened.

 _She loves me,_ Madoka thought. She had revealed that this morning when she tried to kiss her. It was an odd feeling, knowing someone felt that way about her. Her mother always insisted that she must have admirers at school, but Madoka never thought so.

Thinking about her mom made her feel sad again, and it got worse as some of their daily routines started running through her mind; brushing their teeth together, chatting about her sensei Miss. Saotome, and giving each other a high five before parting ways in the morning. She desperately missed all of those small things, as well as going about her normal school life and being with her friends. She couldn't stay here… she had to go home.

She felt that guilty lump in her throat as she spoke, "Homura?"

"Yes?"

"Um… I was mean to you earlier."

Homura shook her head, "No, you weren't."

"I was though… I mean, I implied a really bad thing about you…"

They were both silent for a little while until Homura said, "It's okay. I know that this situation isn't easy for you either. If either of us needs to apologize it's me." Her eyes darkened, and she whispered her next words so lowly it seemed to be more to herself. "For… never being able to…"

She was the girl who snatched her away from her normal life, but she had reasons for doing it. Even if she could be mean sometimes, for the most part Homura at least _tried_ to be nice. Madoka could see that, and also knew that Homura cared about her. _But…_

"Homura, what I said before… I mean, you can touch me." Homura's head turned towards her more fully. Madoka blushed and her head sunk into her shoulders. "I-I mean… you usually…" her voice became small and embarrassed, "Before leaving… you… the way you pat my head. I um… Y-you don't have to stop doing that. I-I don't mind." She closed her eyes, feeling like an idiot.

Then, she felt Homura's hand set itself on top of her head and stroke her hair. Madoka eyes opened and the two of them made real eye contact with each other, which seemed to be a rarity in their relationship. "Then, can I do it now?" Homura asked.

Madoka could only nod her head in response.

Her eyes started to feel heavy, and she let them close as Homura stroked her hair with a soft touch. That desperate lonely feeling in her heart felt like it was sinking away. Those scary images from the witch's labyrinth, and the haunting red eyes of the incubator both vanished from her mind completely. Homura had saved her from those things; those things that actually _did_ want to hurt her. She thought she had other reasons for allowing Homura to touch her like this, and tried to silence the idea that it really was to help with her loneliness.

 _No, this is just part of my plan,_ Madoka thought as her mind wandered off to sleep... _I… just need to get back home..._

 **V**

Junko's head laid against her folded arm on the tabletop. The house was mostly dark besides the dimmed lights in the kitchen. She stared at an empty glass eye level with her, then reached out and grabbed for something else.

She slid a bottle towards her, her stomach jerking with a hiccup as she leaned the bottle down until its neck dinged against the the rim of the glass. Nothing came out. A frustrated groan escaped her mouth as she put her hand against the table to prop herself up, then lifted the bottle more so the dark liquid could spill out and into the cup. The bottle hit the counter hard as she set it down again.

She weaved back and forth, looking at the drink she just poured for herself. She was past the limit where she could tell herself no, although she knew she should. "I'm gonna kill 'em," she slurred, letting out another hiccup as she rose the glass. "No one hurts my… baby gurl…"

Her initial reaction to Madoka's disappearance three days ago had her on the phone for a good while, calling Madoka's friends, neighbors, and a lot of time spent talking to detectives and pushing them to " _do their damn jobs"_. She also went out in her car, trying in vain to track down her missing daughter somehow. She had even called a few newsrooms and got them to run a missing persons story on their channels.

After three days of making no progress, and finding herself unable to sleep, she eventually convinced herself it would be okay to have a drink. She was a person of action who was use to always being in control and able to take charge of any situation. Now she felt powerless to protect the one thing that mattered to her most in the whole world, and she didn't quite know how to deal with it. That one drink turned into many more, until the bottle was now almost empty.

Her subconscious debated the pros and cons of taking this shot which dangled in her unsteady hand, until she heard footsteps behind her. "Can't sleep?" asked the soft voice of her husband as he sat down next to her. He took note of how the whisky bottle was now almost empty, then guided the glass back down to the table and pushed it away from her. Junko didn't complain about this. Even though her good senses were too far away for her to stop herself, she still had enough left to at least trust her husband's judgement.

"Couldn't," she said with a shake of her head, then she fell against him and he caught her in his arms. "What the hell are they doing?" she hiccuped, "Where the hell does our tax money go anyway?"

Tomohisa rubbed his wife's arm as he held her. "We'll get through this. Madoka will be okay, I promise you."

"But what if she's not! She's just a little girl… what if… I swear when I find out who's responsible… I'm gonna…" Junko's fist tightened on top of the table, and Tomohisa held onto her a little tighter.

"You don't have to hold it in," Tomohisa said. "You can let it out."

Junko Kaname was never a woman to be crushed by anything. She was a goddess of the corporate world, and dominated no matter what odds were stacked against her. But on that night, for the first time in longer than either she or her husband could remember, Junko Kaname began to weep.

* * *

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 **Thank you for reading! And thanks to reviewers and followers for the support!**

 **-Atomyst**


	30. Just drop it

**I**

"How long are you going to be gone this time?" Madoka asked as Homura clicked the cuffs over her wrist. They were special handcuffs which had soft fuzzy cushioning on the inside, which felt much better against her wrists compared to normal metal ones. Madoka never ventured to ask Homura where she had gotten them from, and honestly did not want to know the answer. Homura had two sets of them though, one with less than half a foot of chain between the cuffs which she used on Madoka's hands. On the other pair the chain was a bit longer and would be used for her feet.

"I'm sorry, I am not sure," Homura said as she walked down to the foot of the bed. She put her hands around Madoka's ankles and pulled her down until her arms were stretched above her head and her feet were as close to the lower bedframe as possible. "I need to collect a GriefSeed today, and since this timeline is so much different than in past lives I can not say for sure how long it will take me to find a witch."

"D-do you really have to do my feet too?" Madoka asked as Homura clicked one of the cuffs around her ankle. "It's not like I can go anywhere."

"Sorry, but while I'm out I'll feel more comfortable knowing that you are secure."

"But-"

"With just the handcuffs you can reach the floor with your feet. I don't know if anyone is in the room below us, but enough banging could easily cause someone to come up here. Other than that, I imagine it would be possible for you to break the bed frame if you had your legs in use for leverage."

Madoka's voice lowered to a pout, "I… Haven't tried anything for a week though."

"Five days," Homura corrected her. This was now the eighth day with Madoka as her captive. Her last escape attempt was when she tried to slip out after taking a bath, while Homura was cooking. After that, Homura had installed a latch with a combination lock over the front door. As long as she was careful to not let Madoka figure out the code somehow it would be impossible for her to get past it and try sneaking out.

"This does not need to happen very often," Homura assured her. "I don't need to go on a witch hunt every day, and I plan to move you out of the city by the twenty seventh, so that means only four more weeks. So, it will not be too many more times that you need to be tied up like this for extended periods of time." Homura locked the other end of the cuffs around Madoka's other ankle then walked back to the head of the bed.

"Still…" Madoka complained in a low voice.

Madoka's gag was ready for her on the nightstand. Homura decided to just stay with the method of using a washcloth and tape.

In the store from which she stole the fuzzy cuffs, she saw something else she could use for the purpose of gagging her captive, but ended up deciding against it. It was impossible to do this in a way which would be completely dignified for Madoka, but using a simple washcloth was still much better than that other option.

Next to the rag there was an MP3 player with earbuds which she also picked up for Madoka on her last outing. She had asked Madoka to make a list of artists she would like to have added to it, and then used a computer at the local library to add them. She actually would have known what songs Madoka wanted without having to ask her, but figured having her make that list would give Madoka a little project to keep her mind busy.

"Are you ready for this?" Homura asked, as she held up the washcloth.

"Um… Y-you're going to deliver the letter I wrote, right? I left it on the kitchen counter."

"Of course," Homura said, with a smile.

"Okay… I'm ready." Madoka opened her mouth as the cloth came closer, but ended up tilting her head away and avoiding it at the last second.

"What's the matter?" Homura asked patiently, letting her hand lower away.

"Um… r-remember when you said you would let me call home?"

"Yes." This was not the first time Madoka had brought that up, and Homura supposed she should make good on the promise. It would probably be good for Madoka too, but there were also some dangers involved which made Homura a bit reluctant.

Madoka's fists tightened anxiously. "Can… can you let me do that soon? Please?" There was a nervous look in her eyes. She must be afraid that it would never actually happen.

Homura smiled and brought her hand up to the top of Madoka's head to stroke her hair. "Okay then, how about tomorrow?"

Madoka's lips instantly turned to a smile, and the anxious look on her face melted away.

Homura lowered her hand, as she thought over how to arrange such a call. "Well actually, would you be alright with just speaking to your mother this time? I… can not let you call your actual house, because there are too many ways in which a call could be traced. Therefore, I think the best method would be to ask your mother to wait at a payphone, and I could obtain a disposable cellphone to make the call with." Madoka took a moment to contemplate the scenario. After a silence Homura asked, "Would that be acceptable?"

"Well… I would like to speak with my father and Tatsuya too… but if this is the best you can do it's fine." She paused, then added, "But, you do need to find a way to let me speak to the rest of my family as well!... Eventually, at least."

"Okay, I will come up with something." Homura raised the washcloth so Madoka could see it, "Are you okay now?"

Madoka nodded her head, and then opened her mouth as Homura brought the cloth up to her lips.

Homura carefully started stuffing it in, favoring putting it towards Madoka's left cheek until it was halfway in, and then stuffing the other end of the cloth into the right. Madoka's cheeks became puffed out a little with her lips puckered against a bit of the cloth which Homura used two fingers to push in the rest of the way.

"Okay?" Homura asked, "It's not hurting your jaw or anything is it?" Madoka shook her head. "Alright, I'm putting the tape on now then."

Madoka allowed Homura to pick her head up as she began wrapping the tape around. This has happened to her every time Homura needed to make a trip out of the hotel room. Normally she would only leave to get food and other provisions, and therefore not be gone for too long. This time, Homura could end up being gone for quite a while.

Madoka was scared to be left alone like this for so long, but there was no helping it. This is what Homura decided was necessary to do to her, and as long as she was stuck with her she knew she had no choice but to put up with it. For now, at least.

After making a few passes around Madoka's head with the tape, Homura set Madoka's head back against the pillow and started straightening her hair out. She then ran her finger over the tape along Madoka's lips and cheeks to smooth it out. Madoka just let her eyes sink to the side while all of this was done.

Homura reached for the MP3 player and started scrolling through the songs. "You want this, right?" Madoka, lacking any other form of communication, just nodded her head in response. Homura selected one of Madoka's favorite songs, and paused it at the beginning. She then brought the MP3 player over to a bar on the bed frame and started wrapping the cord around to tie it there, near Madoka's hand. "Here, this way you can control it, and it won't fall out of your reach if you drop it." Homura put the device into Madoka's hand then carefully placed the earbuds in her ears for her.

She took a moment to watch her captive's face, smiling at her affectionately. Lately Madoka seemed much less distressed about these situation than she had been before. Homura use to have a lot of trouble just leaving her like this, and even now she felt bad about it, but it was at least bearable to do now. When compared with the constant hopelessness of all the failed timelines she'd suffered, knowing she had Madoka like this actually made her feel good in a strange way.

Without thinking about it, her thumb ran along Madoka's cheek. Madoka seemed to not mind things like this as much anymore either, though it may have embarrassed her a little as she softly struggled against her chains. Homura would have liked to give her a kiss, but knew that may be going too far.

"I'm leaving now, okay Madoka?"

Madoka nodded her head, and a small sound made it past her gag. Homura gave her head one last pat before turning away and walking for the door.

By the time Homura was only half way across the room, Madoka once again felt that sinking feeling in her chest. It was a terrible feeling of loneliness, and the moment her mind acknowledged that she could be spending _hours_ like this, and that there was nothing she could do to stop it, the feeling grew more intense.

She struggled against the chains. It was dark in here, the blinds were drawn over the window. Being alone in the dark would be even worse, but she really just did not want Homura to leave at all. She yelled into her gag to try grabbing Homura's attention.

Homura looked back at her with concern in her eyes. _Don't leave me alone,_ Madoka thought, wishing she could actually say it. Her hands and feet struggled. _Please just stay!_

Homura smiled, "Don't worry, it will be longer than normal but it won't be _too_ long. I promise you."

 _No! Don't smile! Don't say that!_ Madoka looked around. It was dark. She pointed a finger at the window as best she could and nodded her head over to it. She spoke into her gag as she did so, only making muffling sounds which were indecipherable as actual speech.

Homura looked over to the window, then back at her. "Do you want the blinds open?" Madoka nodded, and did feel some relief as Homura walked back into the room. The light helped, it made her surroundings feel less dreary, but the relief was short lived. When Homura started walking back to the door she could already feel the sinking in her chest again. Once Homura left, Madoka would be completely helpless, and perhaps that was a big part of what scared her.

 _Please_ , Madoka thought, though she knew it was pointless and knew that Homura actually did _have_ to leave. Homura stopped in the doorway once again and looked at her. Madoka could only imagine the look on her own face. She felt like a puppy crying about being left in a kennel, and she pitied herself for stooping so low, but she couldn't help it.

Homura started walking back towards her.

 _What's she doing?_

Her hands and feet struggled against their chains, not sure what to expect. She hoped Homura had changed her mind and would free her. If Homura just undid the cuffs and changed her mind about leaving, Madoka would be so happy and she would be really nice to Homura for the rest of the day! She just so badly did not want to be left here like this.

Then, without a word Homura leaned over her, and planted a kiss right on her cheek. Madoka's eyes widened in surprise and she gasped. It took a moment to register it, but then she started yelling at Homura through the gag. She had given Homura the okay to pat her head, and touch her in small ways. She never gave her permission to do _that_ though!

"Sorry," Homura said, "I hope you don't mind, but I did not want you to be afraid. You are safe. I know the situation is scary and however it may seem, being right here is the safest place in the world for you right now. I will never let anything bad happen to you. I want you to understand that."

Madoka complained into the gag. Struggling against the chains was useless and her face became hot with the frustration of not being able to properly express herself. At least she _thought_ that's why her face was hot, but if it was not then what Homura did next certainly made that the case.

"I have to go now," Homura said in her toneless way, and she reached for the MP3 player in Madoka's hand and pressed the play button. Madoka's hearing was suddenly overtaken by the sound of one of her favorite pop songs, and Homura got up and started walking away.

 _OH! She better not!_ Madoka thought. She was yelling into the gag, though she could not hear herself thanks to the music. _She better not just leave like that!_ Then when Homura closed the bedroom door Madoka was shocked that she had actually left like that. She pulled at her chains, grunting in frustration, with the music just becoming more annoying for her than anything, but nothing she did made any difference and only served to frustrate her more.

She let out a last frustrated grunt before kicking her heels against the soft bed and letting her body go limp.

As soon as Homura got back, she was really going to let her have it! How dare she treat her like this? Madoka didn't think things through enough to note that though she felt angry and frustrated, that terrible sinking feeling in her chest had vanished completely.

 **II**

Kyoko burst into laughter, clutching her stomach and kicking her bare feet as she leaned back into the couch.

A new contestant on the game show she was watching gave himself a brief and rather enthused introduction in front of the camera before rushing headlong into an obstacle course. The announcers commented that hopefully he would fair better than the last contestant, who had been making decent progress until a spring loaded boxing glove unexpectedly came out of the wall, hitting him hard and knocking him into the lake below.

Kyoko reached over, grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them into her mouth. "What losers," she said to herself, spitting out a few crumbs as she spoke. "I bet I could clear that thing in my first try no problem. Not that I would want to do something so stupid anyway."

She watched for a while longer, laughing whenever she watched a contestant get ambushed by an unexpected obstacle, or fail to make a jump and plunge into the icy water below. When the show was over and the credits began to roll Kyoko reached forward to snag up the remote and turned it off.

She stood up and entwined her fingers above her head as she leaned or body left and right, stretching out the muscles in her back and arms. She then took a moment to look around the apartment she had been squatting in.

There were some pictures on the counter tops which Kyoko had folded down, as she did not want to have to look at the face of a dead guy all day. She also avoided going into the back room of the apartment. Things had been cleaned up, but she guessed there is only so much one could do to clean up a room which had been totally spattered in blood. There was a rather large red stain on the wooden floor back there which she guessed could never be totally removed, and it was all a rather disturbing sight. So, she left that door closed - out of sight and out of mind.

She walked over to the kitchen, passing by her green hoodie which was draped over a chair, then went to the fridge and opened it. She stood there, staring inside and scratching her bare belly, trying to decide on what she wanted to eat.

When she first moved in there were some rotten onions and head of lettuce among other various things, but the fridge had mostly been empty. It now contained a decent stock, as she had made a trip to a grocery store and stole some provisions for the week. That round of grocery shopping had gone by without a hitch; much better than the last attempt when she was stopped at the door by the manager.

She pulled out a carton of eggs, along with cheese, butter, green peppers and onions, then brought them over to the stove. She then doubled back to her duffle bag on the counter, and retrieved a small frying pan which she had stolen a while ago. She turned on a radio which had been sitting on the kitchen counter ever since she moved in, then went back to the stove to start cooking breakfast.

She listened to the news for a while, there was a story of a mass suicide downtown which caught her attention, but other than that there was not much else that was useful to her. The weather report was worth listening to, but then when the topic shifted over to politics and current events she mentally tuned it out as she continued cooking.

When she was all done she sat at the counter with her freshly made omelette, retrieved a fork from the apartment cabinet, and started eating.

She decided to go check out the location of that mass suicide today, and see if a witch was involved. It's not that she was in need of a GriefSeed, her SoulGem was in perfect condition and she had three more GriefSeeds stashed away in her duffle bag already. Still, this was all a part of her plan. Take as many as she could for herself, and leave the rest of the Magical Girls starving. Once they were weak, she would eventually work on taking them all out one by one and claiming this territory for herself.

Homura was still the part she hadn't come to a decision on yet. She supposed as long as Homura stayed out of her way, she could likewise stay out of hers. Mitakihara certainly was big enough for two Magical Girls, but if Homura did turn out to start causing issues for her she could work on a plan for making herself the _only_ Magical Girl in the city. Homura was powerful though, and unlike Mami she was ruthless, so Kyoko could not make any mistakes regarding that one.

She finished her breakfast, then started cleaning up. Wherever she stayed, whether it was a hotel room or an abandoned or empty house, she made a point of trying to leave it the way she found it. There wasn't much point, sure, and she usually was not one for pointless tasks, but for some reason leaving a mess behind just bothered her. She may be homeless, but that did not mean she had to be a slob too. She guessed it was a matter of pride, or maybe it was just out of habit. The house she grew up in was always clean… or, at least it always was before things had started going bad… before her father had started drinking.

She quickly shook that thought away and got back to thinking over her plans for the day.

She retrieved a small map of the city she snagged from a gas station a few days ago, unfolded it, and brought it to the coffee table in front of the TV. She had a few key locations checked off and circled, such as the location of the other girls homes. She already found out where both of the two rookies lived, and had a bigger circle around the general area she suspected Homura to be residing. Then she had a few notes of places she suspected witches to be, or where she had already defeated a witch, as well as other key locations like Mitakihara Middle School and the hospital where both of the two rookies seemed to go quite often.

Her eyes traced along the streets until finding the area of the mass suicide and made a note. It was a little bit outside of her target zone, but it may still be worth going there. She had been focusing the areas closest to where the other Magical Girls were, in order to starve them out. However, if Mami heard of the suicides on the news as well then there is no doubt she would go looking for the witch which could have potentially been involved. Kyoko could easily go handle it before school let out and-

She heard a noise and her head shot up. She glanced over to the door at the front of the apartment, heard voices, and then the scraping of metal as a key was inserted. "Damn it!" she cursed to herself and quickly got up. She folded the map, stepped into her shoes without even putting any socks on, then gathered her frying pan and quickly returned it to the dufflebag along with her map.

By the time she was pulling her hoodie on over her black tank-top the door opened. A man and a woman stood in the doorway, clearly surprised to see her there fumbling with the zipper of her hoodie.

 _Shit_ , _what now?_

She ignored the people's surprised expression and looked to a window on the other side of the apartment, snatched up the duffle bag, and ran towards it.

"Hey!" the man yelled at her, "What are you doing here?"

Her hands jiggled the lock of the window, but it would not budge. She glanced around like a caged animal for another escape route, wondering if she would have to just barrel through the two of them and make her escape out the front door.

Then the woman spoke, "Hey wait, are you alright? You don't need to be afraid." She stepped forward and held an open palm out to Kyoko.

 _Afraid? Who the hell's afraid?_ Kyoko looked back to them with a harsh expression, but was not quite able to hold it when she saw the compassionate looks from the two of them. They were pitying her right now. She hated that.

Taking a better look at the two of them, she realized something. They were seen in several of the pictures she had folded down throughout the apartment.

Their son had owned this apartment, and it was their son who had left that nasty dark red stain in the back room which Kyoko avoided going into. Kyoko currently had a GriefSeed stuffed in her duffle bag which came from just a few streets over. She suspected the condition of the backroom was more the fault of that witch than these peoples son.

Kyoko then took note of how they were dressed. Black clothes; they had just attended a funeral.

 _Damn it…_ she thought, guiltily.

Kyoko bowed her head. "I'm sorry. I promise I didn't steal anything. I just needed a place to stay." With that, she quickly walked for the front door. They stepped to the side to let her pass, glancing to each other with those concerned expressions and quickly whispered a few words to each other.

Once Kyoko was out in the sunlight she heard, "Wait" from the woman again. "You don't have to leave like that. Do you need anything? We could help you."

 _Idiot,_ Kyoko thought, _it's not like trying to help out some random stranger is going to change what happened to your son. Just drop it._ She didn't say that though, instead she said, "I left some food in the refrigerator. Please make sure it does not go to waste."

Before they could say another word to her she vaulted over the balcony of the apartment complex. She heard a scream from above as she descended and transformed into her Magical Girl attire. They may have seen the flash of light, but by the time they would have made it to the railing to see if she was alright she was already ducking onto the balcony of a lower floor and effectively disappearing from their sight.

 **III**

Homura took a trip downtown so that she could deliver Madoka's letter first. She wanted to make sure she got it to them before they would have checked the mail. She had also written a brief message herself, which would instruct Junko of what payphone to wait for Madoka's call at the following day. She was reluctant to allow such contact, worried Madoka might give something away. Madoka had been behaving much better lately, though, and Homura supposed some kind of reward for her good behavior would encourage her to continue on in that way.

She felt bad that she had been a little mean to Madoka before leaving today, but she didn't do it for the sake of meanness, and she thought Madoka would see that. Even if she was a little angry at first.

At the top of Madoka's home street Homura looked around for a place to discreetly change into her Magical Girl costume. The best she could find was a place on the sidewalk between a car and a rather large bush. Before ducking down she took one last look around, checking the windows of houses and other cars, and figured no one was watching. As soon as finished transforming and her shield appeared on her arm, she spun the gears and stopped time.

As she walked down the street she noted the group of gradeschoolers playing basketball who were often out here. She also took note of a car with tinted windows in plain sight of Madoka's house which had the driver sitting low and smoking a cigarette. Something about it struck her as odd, so she went up to the window. The man inside was wearing sunglasses, there were lots of discarded containers for food on the floor of the passenger side, and in the back seat Homura took note of a lunch box and a few bottles of water. If that was not enough, she took note of a small black device at the top of his windshield, pointing at Madoka's house. It was a camera.

He would have been inconspicuous if she did not have the ability to walk up to the window like this without him seeing her, but since she could, she quite easily identified him as a private detective. He was staking out the mailbox, waiting for Madoka's kidnapper to deliver another letter. Today was that day, but unfortunately for his reputation as a detective he was going to miss it. The camera would not catch anything either, which would be mysterious for them, but she supposed there was no helping it.

Homura walked over to the mailbox, opened it to find the mail had already been delivered, which is just what she wanted, and she put the two notes for the Kaname family right on top. One had been written by Madoka to assure her family that she was okay and still not being hurt, and to say how much she missed them and hoped they were dealing with this well.

The other note was written by Homura, though she used her left hand to write it rather than her dominant right hand. Just in case some clever detective decided to compare that note with the handwriting of the other girl who had gone missing from the middle school. It was unlikely, but Homura had learned that there was no such thing as being too careful.

With that done she walked down the street to look for a place to transform back. She still needed to buy a disposable cellphone to make the call with, then she would go find a witch and collect its GriefSeed.

 **IV**

"Mami-Sensei! Sayaka-Chan!" Nagisa shouted as she ran towards the two of them, waving her hand in the air. It seemed she had been waiting outside of the middle school for them to be let off for the day.

Sayaka lifted her school bag to hang it over her shoulder and smiled as Nagisa approached. Nagisa still threw the _weird girl_ name at her every once in awhile, but lately it seemed she was much more likely to be addressed as _Sayaka-Chan_.

"Ah, hello Nagisa," Mami said as the younger girl caught up to them. "I did not expect to see you out here."

"Yeah, I wasn't going to be able to meet up at the normal place, so figured I should try to catch the two of you here. It was on my way anyway." She was still wearing her elementary school uniform, which was in the typical sailor fashion with darker colors than Mitakihara Middle School and had a much longer skirt. Her thumbs curled under the straps of her backpack over her chest.

"You heading to the hospital?" Sayaka asked.

Nagisa enthusiastically nodded. "Yup!"

"How is your mother doing?" Mami asked.

"Really good! She said we are going to get to go home in just a couple of days… um…" Nagisa's eyes fell to the ground as she thought it over. "Well, I am really happy but it will make it harder for the three of us to meet up and go on hunts."

Her aunt's apartment where she currently lived was right across the street from Mami. It was so close that they could communicate through telepathy while in their rooms, which made negotiating their outings quite easy.

Mami had to admit she was going to miss having Nagisa so close. After being alone in her apartment for so long, then suddenly having such a special relationship with Nagisa felt like a wish come true. Sometimes after coming home from a hunt they would each lay in their beds and telepathically chat with each other as they each tried dozing off to sleep. Nagisa usually did most of the talking. Once she got going she could be a real chatterbox and never seemed to run out of things to say.

In the mornings it was much the same. They would wake up and say good morning telepathically, and sometimes one would wake the other if they were oversleeping. Then there would be more chatting as they went about their morning routines, until they met up outside to walk to school together. The elementary school was on the way to the middle school, so Mami would say goodbye to her at the gate before finishing the walk to her own school. In the past, she had always went about her mornings completely alone, and in silence. She had forgotten what it was like having someone to say good morning to, and once Nagisa moved back to her mother's house she really was going to miss her.

"Don't worry," Mami said with a cheery smile, despite some of the sadness she felt. "We will just have to find other ways, and we will be sure to come visit you a lot either way."

"Yup," Sayaka said with a wink, "Plus I have got to check your place out sometime, so you better invite us!"

Nagisa gave them each an enthusiastic nod. "Yup! Can't wait! I will get Mama to bake a cheesecake with me too, then we can have a party when you come over!"

"That sounds like fun," said Mami with a laugh.

"Anyway, are you two sure you will be okay going on a hunt without me today?" Nagisa asked.

"Yeah we should be fine," Sayaka said, grinning and showing a fist. "I feel like I'm really starting to get the hang of all of this."

"Yes, you are both doing very well for how inexperienced you are," Mami agreed. "But Sayaka, are you sure you really have time for it today?"

"Huh? Of course I do."

"I was just thinking, after healing that boy you have not seen him very often, have you?"

"No, that's not true… well…" Sayaka thought back, "Hmm… I suppose it's true my visits have lessened but that is just because I have this responsibility as a Magical Girl now. More than that…" Her expression became very serious all of a sudden. "Homura is still out there somewhere, and Madoka is still in trouble. I thought we would have that settled by now, but I need to do everything I can to save her. Saving Madoka is one of the main reasons I became a Magical Girl."

Nagisa frowned, taking in the mood and letting her normally cheery side melt away a bit. She had not met this Homura Akemi herself yet, but had heard all about her and what she did to Sayaka's friend Madoka. Sayaka told her a lot about Madoka too, and she sounded like she was really nice and would be a lot of fun to make friends with. Nagisa hoped that they really would find Homura soon and make her give Sayaka's friend back.

"Still, don't you think you should go see him?" Mami continued, "There is no guarantee we will run into Homura today, and even if I do run into her while I am alone I promise I will detain her without hesitation this time. So you really don't need to push-"

Sayaka clicked her teeth rather aggressively and turned her head, "What the hell Mami? I said it's fine!"

Nagisa's hand came up to her mouth and she retreated back a step, she had never heard Sayaka snap like that before and it startled her. Mami just held a concerned look in her eyes and spoke very calmly. "Sorry, I just did not want your friendship with Kyousuke to suffer because you felt obligated to come with me. If I overstepped, then I do apologize."

Sayaka's harsh expression quickly turned into one of guilt, then she turned back to Mami with an apologetic smile. "No… um…" She bowed her head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, you certainly didn't do anything to deserve it. I just…"

"You are worried about Madoka, I understand." Mami gave her a reassuring smile. "I am sorry things are not going better, my estimate of how long it would take to find Homura may have been too optimistic, but I promise you we _will_ find her and we will get Madoka back. I'm just worried..."

Sayaka thought things over, clearly still troubled by the danger her friend was in. She supposed Kyousuke did deserve some of her time as well, even with how important the witch hunting and trying to find Madoka was. "I guess you are right," she chuckled, "I'm sure he is disappointed I hadn't come to listen to him play his violin more. I bet he hasn't put that thing down once since getting healed."

"He sure hasn't," Nagisa said with a laugh, glad the mood came back around. "Every time I'm there anyway, all I can hear is his lame music!"

"Sure you are alright running it solo today, Mami?" Sayaka asked.

"Absolutely. This is why we have a team, so we can pick up the slack for each other when our lives need to take precedence over our jobs as Magical Girls."

"Heh, well I think you are the one who picks up most of the slack," said Sayaka.

"I am more experienced. Yet you two are improving so quickly, it is quite impressive."

"Thanks," Sayaka said with a smile, "Well, guess we should get going then. Be safe on the hunt!"

"Of course, see you both later."

"Bye Mami-Sensei! We can talk tonight!" said Nagisa as she and Sayaka started walking away together.

Mami smiled, once again thinking how happy she was to have found such good friends… although, she did feel bad about being deceitful with them just now...

Mami walked along the city streets until finding a place out of sight where she could change into her costume. She then used her ribbons to bring herself up onto the rooftops and started running for a certain area of the city she had heard about on the news. She wanted to do something today, and she knew it would be better if Sayaka was not around while she handled it. She just hoped she could predict her old rambunctious Kohai's actions as well as she thought she could.

She went to the building where the mass suicide took place, then checked her SoulGem for negative pulses of magic. It was faint, the witch had moved on, but it was still not too far. She started running along the rooftops again, using her ribbons to swing over the gaps, occasionally conferring with her SoulGem to make sure she was going the right way.

Finally, she found it. She stood at the ledge of one building, and watched the windows of one on the opposite side of the street from her. There was no mistaking it; the portal to the labyrinth was somewhere inside. She was not as interested in that though, and when she looked to the streets below she was impressed by just how good her timing turned out to be.

She saw a crop of red hair casually strolling around on the sidewalk outside, suspiciously glancing around and peeking into windows. Mami quickly ducked down so she would not be seen too easily, and watched as Kyoko approached the front door of the abandoned building.

"Just as I thought," Mami whispered to herself, "You are not quite as clever as you seem to think you are, Sakura-san. Or maybe you forgot who taught you in the first place."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **For updates on future releases follow me on Twitter at /Atomyst_Fics**

 **-Atomyst**


	31. Got you!

**I**

Homura stopped time as her feet kicked off the edge of a building top and she flipped through the air. The cars far below her on the city streets halted in their tracks as the world became silent aside from the rustling of her own clothing. Time resumed as she landed in a crouch, and all the ambient sounds of the late-afternoon city came swarming back around her. She brushed her hair away from her face as she stood, and then conferred with her SoulGem. She had been searching for the _box witch_ but so far has been unable to pick up its trail.

Normally the witch's first attack would not have happened until later today, and Homura had planned on taking it out before then. However, on her way to the place where she ordinarily knew it to be located she caught a newspaper headline detailing a mass suicide using _chlorine gas_ had happened yesterday.

Once again, this timeline was proving to be troublesome for her. Too much had changed and too many alternate chains of events had been set into motion to the point it seemed it was impossible for her to predict anything anymore.

Well, there is at least one event she _could_ still count on happening. It is the one thing that never failed to come to pass and always appeared on the same exact day at the end of every timeline. Homura walked to the edge of the building and looked around at the small metropolis which surrounded her. A heavy wind blew her hair and her skirt, and her eyes scanned the streets.

This city is Madoka's home town and if it were to be destroyed she would be devastated. Homura may be able to prevent her from making a contract, but her ability to save this city was a different story. She closed her eyes, just feeling the wind against her skin for a moment, and listened to the cluster of sounds rising from those streets below her.

She wanted a perfect ending that Madoka could be happy with, but the reality of what the future may hold was far too grim. Madoka would remain locked up, some of her friends would be dead and her home would be lying in ruins as she remained Homura's captive and unable to do anything about it. Homura knew that under those circumstances Madoka would end up growing to recent her, and probably even hate her. Still… Homura could accept all of that, knowing that the alternative would either have Madoka dead, or transformed into a world-destroying witch.

Homura opened her eyes and focused on her SoulGem once again. She needed to hurry and find this box witch. She hoped that the attack happening a day early did not mean Hitomi Shizuki had already died. That would be just one more failure on Homura's part, and one more thing to crush Madoka's spirit.

 **II**

"You know, it's pretty rare for it to be just the two of us like this," Sayaka said to Nagisa as they approached the hospital campus, each wearing their respective school uniforms.

"Yeah, I didn't realize it before but I think you are right. We usually don't get together unless Mami is with us as well, huh?"

"So, how has your mom been?" Sayaka asked, "She still doing going?"

"Yeah, she's doing great! She doesn't even really need to be in the hospital anymore. Um, don't tell Mami but I almost accidentally told her about my wish."

Sayaka raised an eyebrow, "You did?"

Nagisa shrugged, "Yeah I caught myself before I said too much though. I mean, she would probably not take me seriously either way. Even if I was trying to convince her it was true it would be hard to make her believe me without some kind of proof. Since Mami told us to keep it all secret, though, of course I have no intention of trying."

"How about Kyosuke? Have you seen him around?" Sayaka asked, since his room was just a few doors down from Nagisa's mother, and Nagisa was friends with him. "I do feel a little bad about not going to see him in a while."

"I see him a little bit," Nagisa answered. "Actually I _hear_ him more than I _see_ him. I swear he never gives anyone a break with that music of his."

"Come on, aren't you being a bit harsh?" Sayaka asked with a grin. "You mean you don't like it even a _little_ bit?"

Nagisa shrugged, "I don't mean I hate it or anything."

"Well, I was really just wondering how his rehab is going."

"Oh! I did see him getting around on crutches the other day, so that is an improvement, right?"

"Yeah, it sure is."

They were approaching the hospital and getting ready to go in when the door opened from the other side and Hitomi came out.

"Oh! Hey Hitomi!" Sayaka said with a smile, "didn't expect to bump into you here. How's it going?"

"Ah, Sayaka. Oh, just fine," Hitomi said, returning a bit of an awkward smile.

"Did you come to visit Kyosuke?" Sayaka asked.

Hitomi nodded her head. "Yes, my final period at school ended early so I decided to run over here and see Kyosuke for a little while."

Nagisa looked between Hitomi and Sayaka. "Oh, so the two of you are friends?"

"Yup! That's right." Sayaka laughed.

"Oh, and you and Nagisa are friends as well?" Hitomi asked.

"Huh? You and Nagisa know each other?" said Sayaka.

"We just officially met the other day," Nagisa explained. "She has been in to see Kyosuke a lot over the last week."

"Oh, you have?"

"Well, yes. Um, actually I-" Hitomi tried to say something, but was then cut off by Nagisa.

"I didn't mention her before because I didn't want you to get jealous, Sayaka!" Nagisa explained with that teasing tone to her voice.

Hitomi once again opened her mouth to speak, but Sayaka spoke first with a bright blush appearing on her face. "W-why would I be jealous of anything? Besides, me and Hitomi are besties. I have known her almost as long as I've known…" her voice trailed off. "... Um… Madoka."

Hitomi's eyes shifted around, before cautiously asking, "Has there been any updates on the situation with Madoka?"

"Yeah… It's officially a kidnapping now. The kidnapper let Madoka write a note to her family. Madoka said she is not being hurt or anything… but… I mean..." Sayaka shook her head.

"What do they want? Are they asking for a ransom?" Hitomi asked.

"Not that I am aware of…" Sayaka said, feeling bad about having to play coy. She already knew Homura kidnapped Madoka for the sake of preventing her from making a contract. At least, that was Kyubey's theory and she had no reason to doubt it. Mami already explained how some Magical Girls turn down a dark path and lose sight of the fight for justice. Mami had seemed kind of upset as she explained that, and Sayaka suspected that Kyoko girl might have something to do with it. Mami had also explained that she and Kyoko use to be partners. "I mean, what does it matter what the reason is?" said Sayaka as she lifted her school bag up over her shoulder. "I swear, the person who did this to Madoka is going to go down!"

"I am sure things will work out in the end." Hitomi said. "Um… listen, about Kyosuke. I-"

"Oh yeah, so how is Kyosuke?" Sayaka asked. Hitomi once again being cut off before she could finish what she was saying.

"W-well, he actually just went into physical therapy," she said.

"What?" Sayaka sighed, "ah, damn that means I missed him, Huh?"

"Well, I don't know how long he will be… but they don't ordinarily allow visitors into the therapy room during a session, unless it is direct family."

"Hm, well I already came all this way. I might as well go in and at least see what the deal is. Worst case, I can just hang with Nagisa and her mom for a while until he is done."

"Yeah, that is fine of course," Nagisa smiled.

"S-Sayaka?" Hitomi asked.

Sayaka finally took note of Hitomi's flustered demeanor and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

"Um… so, sometime soon do you think we can talk about something?"

"Huh? Talk about what?"

"Um, after school tomorrow let's just go to the cafe. Ok?" Hitomi asked. "Just the two of us?"

Sayaka took in Hitomi's expression and said, "Yeah sure we can totally do that." Sayaka glanced to the side for a moment, then looked back at Hitomi and smiled. "Hey, don't worry too much about Madoka. I know she is going to be alright! The situation seems bad but I am sure things will work out in the end."

Hitomi still had a guilty look on her face, but she nodded an agreement. "Yeah, me too."

Sayaka wished that she could tell Hitomi what was really going on, and reveal the fact that she was going to personally take down Madoka's kidnapper. That would require explaining the whole Magical Girl thing, though. Again, Mami insisted that their status as Magical Girls needed to stay secret to all who were not involved.

The three said their goodbyes and parted ways for now, Sayaka and Nagisa going into the hospital together and Hitomi leaving the campus to head home.

"So, are all of your friends so weird?" Nagisa asked as they went up the stairs.

Sayaka sighed, "Honestly Nagisa, part of me feels like you are just the weird one."

"Hey that's not true at all!" Nagisa shouted.

"Don't you think your obsession with cheese is a little on the weird side, though?" Sayaka teased.

"No way! Anyone who does not like cheese are the real weirdos!"

"Hitomi did seem a little off today," said Sayaka. "She is very good friends with Madoka as well, so guess this whole thing has got her pretty freaked out."

"Oh… I see," Nagisa responded softly.

When the elevator door opened they had another friend waiting for them. "Kyubey!" Nagisa shouted instantly when she saw his little white face staring up at her.

"Hey there Kyubey, what's-" Sayaka started, but Kyubey responded before she could finish.

"I am glad I managed to find the two of you!" he said with his urgent little voice. "I have spotted Homura and she is in the same area as Mami right now!"

"What? Seriously!?" said Sayaka, "Damn it! I knew I should have gone with her!"

"Listen, neither Homura or Mami have discovered each other yet. However, Kyoko is also in the area and the three of them are all on the trail of the same witch," Kyubey explained. "What I am worried about is the possibility of Kyoko and Homura teaming up against Mami. Mami may be more powerful than either of them alone, but together they could easily get the upper hand on her."

"Wait? Are you telling me that Kyoko chick from the other day is teamed up with Homura?" said Sayaka.

"I can not say for certain. However, I think there is a strong possibility it could turn out that way."

"Damn it! Well, what should we do?"

Kyubey turned and nodded his head to beckon Sayaka to follow him. "I can show you where they are. You do not have much experience scaling rooftops yet, but that will still be the quickest method of travel, so do your best."

"Alright!" said Sayaka. Then she turned to Nagisa who seemed at a loss for what to do herself. "You're mom is expecting you, right? So you should probably stay behind."

"But… if something bad happens to you and Mami…"

Sayaka put a thumb up. "Don't worry about it! Mami only needs help incase it ends up being two against one. With me helping her out, there should be no problem! Besides, you don't have any way of scaling rooftops the way I can. I am not that good either, but I can at least make bigger jumps thanks to my healing factor keeping me from getting hurt on the landings. You can't really do anything like that though, can you?"

"No…" said Nagisa, letting her eyes droop down. "Still… maybe I will be able to catch up. I will just tell mama I am busy, and make an excuse for why I can't stay long, then follow after you… except… I won't know where to go once you get too far."

Sayak grinned, "Alright then, if that is how you wanna do it. I will just leave a trail of swords behind for you to follow. Just search for my magic pulse like Mami showed you and you should be able to spot my trail."

Nagisa looked back up and smiled, enthused that she can be a part of it after all. "Ok! Got it!"

"Alright Kyubey," said Sayaka. "Let's go."

 **III**

Wood splintered and broke away as a loud crash echoed through the abandoned halls. Kyoko stood in the dismantled doorway wearing her full Magical Girl attire. Her spear was balanced over her shoulder and a pocky stick hung from her mouth.

"Damn thing thinks it can hide from me, huh?" she said to herself as she continued deeper into the abandoned halls of the old building.

The witch had been playing a rather annoying game of hide-and-seek with her, moving its labyrinth around and trying its best to go unnoticed. Kyoko finally tracked it to the end of a long hall on one of the upper floors, and it seemed it was finally ready to just stick around and accept its fate. Or perhaps it thought it actually stood a chance against her?

Some Magical Girls did not think that witches were capable of that kind of cognitive thought, as if their mentality was more similar to an animal which operates on instinct alone. Kyoko highly doubted that, though. Some witches were like that _maybe_ , but she has seen far too much in her experience as a Magical Girl to give all of them so little credit. Sometimes, witches could be damn smart.

Her hand reached to the wall just beyond the threshold and she flipped the light switch up and down again with no effect. She then focused magic to her eyes to allow herself to see a little more clearly in the dark and continued on her hunt. Her boots echoed with each step.

Finally, the witches presence became more powerful, and she spotted a glow coming from under another doorway. "Finally ran out of places to hide, huh?" She ran over to it and jumped up, leading with her foot which kicked the door right under the handle. The door snapped open and the labyrinths portal finally revealed itself to her.

She saw her own form reflecting off the orb, with a layer of white static swimming around below the surface. It's brightness would fluctuate, and as she listened closely she could actually hear radio static coming from within the labyrinth.

"What's wrong? Forgot to pay yer' cable bill?" she ask the floating orb, grinning as she crunched down on the last of her pocky stick.

She then readied her spear and prepared to leap inside, until she heard: "Hold it right there!"

Kyoko instantly spun around, jumped back a step, and then let her eyes narrow menacingly as her spear found itself pointing at her old senpai. It was dark, but Mami's silhouette caught the fluctuating brightness of the labyrinth's portal enough for Kyoko to see the outline of her drill curls and musketeers hat. On the brighter flashes of light a stern expression revealed itself on Mami's otherwise dark face.

"Heh, figured things were going a bit too easily," said Kyoko. "But where are your two little lackeys? Did they take my advice and ditch you already?" She let out a burst of mean laughter. "That was even quicker than I thought it'd be!"

"Not at all," said Mami. "I simply asked them to stay behind because I had a feeling I would be running into you today."

"Oh? And how'd ya know that?"

"Sorry, but you are not quite as clever as you seem to think you are, Sakura-san."

"Wellp, you found me now, and If you are looking for a fight I'll warn you it's going to be different this time!" She gritted her teeth and tensed her hands on her spear. "I am not the same person I was before, and if you don't give it your all this time I won't be going easy on you!"

"You are only right about one thing, and that is that you are indeed not the Kyoko Sakura who I use to know. That girl actually had it in her heart to care about people other than herself."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "And you never change one damn bit! Sayin' stupid shit like that!" Kyoko's feet dug into the ground and she sprung forward. "You're my enemy now! Get it?" Her spear spun around and slashed at Mami, but was blocked by the side of a musket that appeared in Mami's hands just in time. Mami spun it into a fire ready position in her hands and fired a shot right in Kyoko's face. Kyoko ducked out of the way as Mami then leaped backwards and sent a dozen strands of ribbons shooting towards Kyoko.

Kyoko flipped backwards, somersaulting away from the ribbons and simultaneously cutting some with her spear as she did so. When she regained her footing and took a battle ready stance Mami had a musket in each hand and several more floating in the air around her. "Kyoko! Stop this!" Mami shouted.

Kyoko had some snide remark on the tip of her tongue, but a powerful pulse of energy came from the labyrinth, momentarily unbalancing her. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and could see that the portal had become brighter.

"I did not come here to fight you!" Mami shouted once again.

"Course not, you just came to collect a GriefSeed, and happened to run into some competition. That's why we are going to fight for it!"

Mami stared her down for a hard moment, sighed, then tossed her muskets away. With a brush of her hand the other muskets floating around her disappeared as well.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Kyoko shouted, "Are you stupid or what?"

"Do you not realize what that witch is doing? It's watching us right now. You are speaking as though a GriefSeed is something you simply snatch up. Did you forget that you must defeat the witch as well before you can claim your prize?"

"Course I know that, idiot."

"Well then what would you do if you did manage to defeat me, but the witch pounced on you before you had enough time to heal. My guess is that is exactly what it is waiting for. It would be the same if I were to defeat you. Therefore, there is no winning this battle for either of us."

"Maybe you don't have enough magic saved up to do both, but I do! So I am not too worried about it. See? It's 'cause I've been getting to all of them first and starving you and your lackeys out! Guess it worked, right? You're actually really weak right now, aren't you?" She grinned mischievously. "Just as I planned."

"You underestimate me, and at the same time you are far overestimating yourself. Yes, I know what you have been doing, but again you are not as clever as you seem to think you are, and I promise my magic reserves are just fine."

"Lets fight then!"

Mami sighed, and let her eyes sink to the side. Kyoko grinned. Then, all of a sudden Mami's gaze shot right back at her and she sprang forward.

"Huh?" Kyoko tried to jump back and take a defensive position, but her feet were held in place and she was unable to move. She glanced down and saw two ribbons had wrapped around her ankles and tethered her to the ground. "Damn it!" She tried to slash at them with her spear, but more ribbons sprang up from the ground and grabbed her arms. More and more appeared, wrapping around her and subduing her. The ribbons forced her arms down to her sides, and ripped her spear from her grasp. The next thing she knew she was being bound by a much thicker series of red ribbons. Kyoko had seen them before; it was Mami's most powerful binding spell.

"Ah! Damn you!" Kyoko screamed, now staring down the barrel of Mami's musket and struggling within a cocoon of red ribbons as they tightened around her. The spell finished and a steel lock formed at her chest. The yellow ribbons that had started it all were no longer necessary and disappeared.

Mami grinned. "You let your guard down, Sakura-san."

"You damn cheater!"

"Am I _really_ hearing that from you of all people?"

Kyoko growled menacingly as she stared down the musket. She was completely bound, from her chest down to her legs, and could not move a single inch aside from wriggling her body within the bindings which even suspended her with her feet unable to touch the floor.

She realized it was useless, and her struggling ceased. "Fine." She looked past Mami's weapon and locked eyes with her. "Go ahead an' finish it then." Mami stared her down for a while then simply lowered the musket. "Ha! That figures. I knew you didn't have the guts!"

"This is not why I came here," said Mami. "I was actually hoping we could find grounds for a truce, but then you attacked me."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Quit screwing around. If you don't have the guts to finish me at least hurry up and get your GriefSeed so you can let me go." She struggled for another brief moment. "Seriously, I'm starting to cramp up over here."

Mami watched her for a moment, then without a word she turned away and the ribbons loosened. Kyoko fell to her hands and knees then looked up with gritted teeth. "What the hell'r you doing?"

"You can have this one," said Mami. "Take it as a peace offering, or a show of good faith. After that, I would like you to meet up with me so we can discuss things. I hope that we can discuss an alliance, but if not…" she looked back over her shoulder. "...then let us discuss our terms of war instead."

"You can't have an alliance with me," Kyoko said, her voice ice cold. "You ought to know that by now."

Mami continued on her way, her steps echoing through the large empty hall. "I have to at least try. I will be waiting for you tomorrow after school, at the fountain where we use to meet up. Please be there."

Kyoko's hands tightened into fists. "You idiot…" she said under the breath, then raised her voice and yelled after Mami: "You damn idiot!" She took a single step after her, raising a fist in the air and prepared to shout something else. She stopped herself, and with a grunt she turned on her heels and summoned her spear back into her grasp. She then ran toward the witch's labyrinth and dove inside, ignoring the bit of wetness she felt on her cheeks.

 **IV**

Mami found a room with a large broken window which she could jump out of and then swing to another building from. She put a foot up on the window ledge with her other foot standing atop shards of broken glass, and focused on her SoulGem for a moment. She could feel pulses from the labyrinth as Kyoko fought against the witch. Kyoko was winning, of course.

 _Why does she insist on being this way?_ Mami wondered.

She thought back to the girl who Kyoko use to be. How kind-hearted she once was. That enthusiastic sparkle that was once in her eyes. Her good humored smiles and unstoppable resolve. Not to mention how much fun it was having her over and sharing tea and pastries with her. Kyoko was now a completely different person; just a cold-hearted cynic and far too stubborn for her own good.

Why did she come back to Mitakihara, though? Was it really because she wanted to go to war and vie for territory? Or was it something else? Mami decided she would try to give her as many chances as she could to be peaceful, but also knew she could only wait so long. She had two new kohai to look out for now, and she could not put them at risk for Kyoko's sake.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice inside her head. "Mami!"

She stopped and looked around. "Oh, Kyubey?"

"Over here," he said and then she spotted him peeking through the doorway she had just come from herself. His voice sounded urgent.  
"What's the matter?" Mami asked.

"It's Homura! She is here in this building right now!" Mami's eyes widened and her hand subconsciously raised to her SoulGem hairpin. "I don't think she knows you are here yet, and Sayaka is also currently on the way."

"I see," Mami said in a low voice. "Do you know exactly where Homura is right this moment?" she asked that partly to get an idea of what kind of powers Kyubey had. Despite knowing him so long she had little understanding of what he was capable of. She has long suspect that he had some sort of teleportation ability, since despite physically not seeming to be fast at all he almost seemed able to be multiple places at once.

"Yes, follow me, but be quiet," said Kyubey. "You have to try and bind her before she notices your presence, otherwise she will just disappear again."

"Right," said Mami. "Lead the way."

Kyubey disappeared through the threshold, and when Mami made it back out into the hall she could already see his glowing red eyes peeking around the corner all the way down the other end of the hall. It worked that way over and over again. Whenever she was close to catching up to him he would duck into a corner out of her sight and next time she saw him again he would have covered an impossibly far distance.

At one point he disappeared into an empty elevator shaft, and when Mami stuck her head in and looked around she saw him peeking up at her from several stories stories down. When she attached a ribbon to the wall and lowered herself down to that floor he finally stopped with his disappearing trick and started traveling side by side with her. Padding along next to her with his tiny feet.

"She seems to have stopped," Kyubey said to her.

Mami responded telepathically as well to avoid being heard. " _She may have felt the pulses from the labyrinth and realized someone had gotten there first. She is probably wondering who it is, and if it is worth pursuing this witch or not, since someone had gotten there first."_

Mami followed him around another corner and they stared down another dark hall with some light shining around the corner at the very end.

"She's down there," said Kyubey. "Be careful, and try not to let her get away."

"Of course," said Mami, putting a thumb up. She summoned a musket into her hand and crept down the hallway. When she reached the end she stuck her back against the wall and very carefully peeked around the corner.

There she was. There were windows along this hallway, and Homura stood in the sunlight, staring at the SoulGem on the back of her head. It glowed softly, and Homura looked to the ceiling. She was in her full Magical Girl attire with her purple and gray dress and that shield of hers over her forearm. She seemed to be lost in thought.

 _Got you,_ Mami thought. Her one hand held the musket at her side, and the fingers of her other hand twirled. Her SoulGem hairpin let off a soft glow and two yellow ribbons appeared out of the ground. They slithered across the floor like snakes, rounded the corner, and made a line right for the back of Homura's heels.

Homura put her arm to the side, thought for a moment, then began to turn. She saw the ribbons on the ground and gasped, reaching for her shield and trying to jump back.

As soon as they were caught, the ribbons sprung forward and instantly wrapped around her heels.

"NO!" she yelled as she reached behind her shield to produce a pistol and then tried shooting at them. She fired three times, succeeding in severing one, but not the other.

Mami did not give her time to keep trying, as she quickly jumped out into sight with her musket at the ready. They only held eye contact for a brief moment before Homura raised her weapon at the yellow Magical Girl and they both fired.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Follow me on twitter at /Atomyst_fics or find a direct link in my profile.**

 **-Atomyst**


	32. Winners and Losers

**I**

Mami was jolted backwards as her vision exploded in a field of stars. Her back hit the ground as she fell into a roll and quickly pivoted back onto her hands and knees. Her ears were ringing, she saw a splatter of blood on the wall, and even worse, she could hear and see a drip of red liquid forming on the ground right below her. She raised a hand to the side of her head, felt the wetness as she pressed down, then looked at how her hand was now painted red.

She looked back over her shoulder, and what she saw was probably the greatest remedy for the pain. Despite it, she could not help the grin that came over her face. "Looks like I win this round, Homura Akemi."

Homura grunted as her legs dangled in the air, the toes of her heeled shoes scraping towards the ground, just barely out of reach. The red ribbons were bound tightly over her chest, securing her arms at her sides with the giant iron lock right at the center of it. "Tomoe! Let me go!" Homura demanded.

"Gladly," said Mami, "Just take me to Madoka Kaname, then I will very happily free you once I see she is safe." Mami pushed herself back to her feet and walked towards her, footsteps echoing down the hall with each step. She snatched up her musket from the ground on her way, then stood just in front of Homura, locking eyes with her. "Of course, an additional term to that deal is you must then leave Mitakihara and never show your face in this city again." Homura did not respond, she simply stared back at her with an incredibly dark expression. "Well? What will it be?"

Then they heard a ruffling outside, and saw Sayaka land in a crouch on the ledge outside the window directly to their left. Her arms waved around as she tried to balance herself, then she managed to put her body against the glass and sighed with relief as she was no longer at risk of falling. She grinned at Homura, and then her mouth opened in concern when she saw half of Mami's face was red with blood. "Mami!" She shouted through the glass. "Hang on! I'm coming in!"

Sayaka stood and pushed the window with her shoulder several times, not budging it an inch and nearly losing her balance for a moment. Mami raised her musket and nodded her head to the side. Sayaka nodded her understanding, stepped out of the way, and let Mami shoot the window open. The glass shattered and descended to the abandoned alleyway below as a rush of static city noise filled the air in the hall.

Sayaka then jumped down into the hall and asked, "Mami, are you ok? That looks bad."

Mami tried her best to give a smile, though her head was spinning, and she put a hand over the wound. "I'm okay, the bullet only grazed me. Luckily." Then her vision went over to the bound up Homura who was dangling in the air right beside them. "It's a good thing Miss. Akemi here is not a slightly better shot. My spell would not have held if I were to have fallen unconscious." Her eyes narrowed. "Or worse."

"Fool," said Homura. "I could have shot that SoulGem right off the other side of your head if I wished."

"Then perhaps that is what you should have done," said Mami.

"I would never do that, I am not that cold blooded. Unlike you."

"Now whatever is that suppose to mean?" asked Mami, with a roll of her eyes. "Well, you seem to be in quite a bad predicament right now, wouldn't you say? Of course, this will go much easier for you if you just agree to our demands."

"Yeah!" said Sayaka, slashing a hand through the air. "Where's Madoka!"

"I told you before," said Homura, "Just forget about Madoka Kaname. I am keeping her safe, that is all you need to know."

"Keeping her safe?" Sayaka asked with a perplexed expression on her face. "Ok, are you just totally insane or what? _You_ are the one she needs to be kept safe from! Now quit messing around and give my friend back!"

"Never."

Sayaka gritted her teeth and stepped forward, seeming like she might attack the defenseless girl, until Mami put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I am sure she will talk. She just needs a moment to accept her defeat. She can not go anywhere, so we will just have to wait her out." Mami then smiled and pointed to the wound on the side of her head. "Do you think you could help me with this for now?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Sayaka gave Homura one more hateful expression before turning to Mami and putting a hand over the wound to start healing it for her. Mami bowed her head down so it would be easier for her.

The wound healed up very quickly, and only a bit of dry blood was left behind when Sayaka took a step back and examined her work. "Good?" she asked.

"Yes," Mami smiled, "Thank you. Your healing magic is quite powerful, it would have taken much longer for me to do that myself."

Sayaka laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Heheh, yeah guess that's like my specialty. Huh?" Then she got more serious and looked back to Homura. "Ok, so how about you quit being stubborn and just tell us where Madoka is! There is no way we will let you go until you do that! So you don't really have a choice." Homura just stared back. "Seriously! What did you do to her?! Do you like, have her chained up in a basement or something? Don't you see how totally insane and overboard doing something like that is just for the sake of eliminating some competition?"

"You are making a lot of assumptions. First of all, I have given Madoka very comfortable accommodations for the time that I must keep her with me. I would never just lock her in a basement. Second, I am not doing this simply to eliminate her as competition. I am doing this to keep her safe, as I already explained."

Sayaka looked like she was going to throw some angry retort back at her, but Mami put a hand up to silence her. "Keep her safe from what?"

"Mami?" Sayaka asked.

"Let us at least hear her out, and understand how she thinks," Mami explained. "Of course, I am not buying a single word she has said so far."

"I guess you're right."

"So, Homura. What exactly do you think you are keeping Madoka safe from?"

"Do I have to tell you?" Homura asked. "You know as well as anyone how dangerous the life of a Magical Girl can be. Many of us die at very young ages. Every time one of us steps into a witch's labyrinth there is a chance we will not step out again."

"You're so full of it!" Sayaka cut in. "You just met Madoka, there is no way you are that overly concerned about her well being. You expect us to believe you?"

"Aside from that," Mami added. "Even if you are being truthful of your intentions. It is Madoka's choice whether or not to make the contract and become a Magical Girl. Besides, she will have the two of us as well as a third member of our team to hunt witches with, so I am sure she will be just fine if she does choose to join us on this path."

Homura still seemed unwilling to budge, just staring back at them with her unmoving expression.

"So… what now?" Sayaka asked Mami.

Then they were distracted by someone else dropping in on the windowsill to their left. Nagisa landed in a crouch and gave a comedic display as she waved her hands around trying to balance herself. Once she was evened out she raised her fists in the air and shouted: "Made it!"

"Thank you for coming, Nagisa," said Mami. "Sorry, but it appears we were able to handle things without you after all."

"Oh…" Nagisa looked Homura over with a surprised look in her eyes. "So is this that Homura girl you were talking about?"

"Yeah, this is her," said Sayaka.

"Hm…" Nagisa took another look at her and when she made contact with Homura's dark intense expression, she flinched back and put on an awkward smile. "She is kind of scary, huh?"

"I am not giving Madoka up," said Homura. "And forcing me to stay here will only make things worse for her."

"Is that a threat!?" Sayaka asked raising a fist at her.

"No. She is comfortable, and safe, but she needs me to return to her. She is expecting me to be back soon, and if I am late she will start to worry."

"Then it is just the opposite," said Mami. "The sooner you reveal her location to us the sooner we can go and free her. She will understand what is going on, and why you were late, and she won't have to worry. Correct?"

"No. Revealing her location to you will only end up putting her in more danger in the long term. I refuse."

"Damn it!" Sayaka yelled, then looked over to Mami. "Well what the hell are we supposed to do now? She isn't budging."

Nagisa put a finger under her chin as she examined Homura from head to toe with a contemplative expression on her face. "Oh! I know!" she said, and they all looked over to her. Nagisa grinned and pointed down to Homura shoes. "Let's just take her shoes off and tickle her feet!"

All of them, even Mami, could not help the dry expressions from coming over their faces.

"Seriously?" said Sayaka.

"No, no, listen! She is a really serious person, right? She has one of those faces, like she takes herself super seriously. I bet if we started to tickle her she would be so embarrassed it would be like torture for her and she will tell us where to find Madoka!" Nagisa pounded her fist into her palm. "Oh! We could also force her to drink a lot of water too and then she will be begging to get untied so that she can go to the bathroom!"

No one quite seemed sure what to say to that. Even Homura ended up with a rare puzzled expression on her face, trying to figure out what to make of this girl.

Then they all heard laughing from around the corner. Kyoko stepped out into sight, slowly clapping her hands. "Oh man, I knew sticking around was a good idea. Damn this is entertaining."

"It's you!" said Sayaka, turning her back to Homura in order to face Kyoko.

"Hey, it's that mean girl from the other day!" said Nagisa, still perched inside the window frame.

"Kyoko," said Mami, regarding her suspiciously, "this is between us and Miss. Akemi. I hope you were not planning on involving yourself."

Kyoko clicked her teeth at that. "Why would I even bother? It's not like me and her are friends or anything. Plus this is the most entertainment I've had in… hmmm… well, the _second_ most entertaining thing to happen to me in quite a while." The way she annunciated the word 'second' made it apparent she was getting at something. "Soooo, Homura. Left pinkie behind this time, did'jah?"

 **II**

Madoka had shaken the earbud out of her ear earlier in the day. With her hands bound above her head it would be impossible to put it back in, but if she turned the volume up all the way on the MP3 player she could still hear the music just fine. She had it paused for now though, and just lay by herself in silence, waiting for Homura to come back.

 _Why does it have to be like this?_ she wondered for at least the twentieth time just within the last couple days. She felt like she use to take her normal school life for granted. She never thought she would be longing for something as simple as walking to school with her friends in the morning again, or enjoying one of her dad's home cooked meals, or just spending time with her family.

She even found herself missing the less fun things like studying and doing homework. Maybe she could ask Homura to pick up some schoolbooks for her so she would at least be able to keep up. It would be another way to keep herself occupied as well, and maybe even give her a chance to feel a little normalcy despite the incredibly abnormal predicament she currently found herself in.

 _I should stop thinking like that,_ she told herself.

She realized getting schoolbooks would just be a way for her to cope with being a captive. She had to remind herself that her mission should be to figure out how to escape, and to be free again.

Homura had been getting closer with her, and letting her guard down more. That was a step in the right direction, she supposed. She could not be too quick with trying to take advantage of it, though. If she attempted another escape just to have it fail then Homura would probably never let her guard down ever again. Next time she tried to escape, she had to be able to stay away from Homura for good.

How would that be possible, though? Even if it _was_ possible she couldn't just go back to her normal life. Homura would just snatch her up again at any moment, and things would just turn out even worse than they were right now. Plus, if Homura realized Madoka was only being nicer to her in order to trick her into letting her guard down… Well, she knew that would hurt Homura very badly. Madoka did not know if she could really be so cruel as to try to manipulate Homura like that. It's not like Homura was a bad person, Madoka truly believed that, but she still felt like what Homura was doing to her was wrong.

Her hands felt around for the MP3 player which was tied to the bedframe, and her fingers searched for the play button. She didn't want to think about it. It was all too frustrating to think about while she was tied up like this and unable to do anything. So, she decided to just distract herself with music. Once the music was playing she closed her eyes and tried to let herself drift off to sleep so she could escape her churning thoughts for just a little while. Hopefully Homura would be home by the time she woke up.

At least she was going to get to talk to her mom tomorrow. She tried to focus her mind on that idea, since it is the one idea that could actually make her at least a little happy right now. Although, it also made her nervous for some reason. There was some vague sense of guilt, the cause of which she could not quite put her finger on. When she thought of her mother's voice, and what their conversation might be like, it was there.

She rolled her shoulders and tried to give her arms a stretch. She felt herself getting sore from being stuck in the same position for so long. Her hands cuffed above her head and her feet cuffed below left her with only a couple inches of wiggle room, so it was difficult to find a more comfortable position. She could roll over, at least, so gave laying on her side a try for a while. When that wasn't any more comfortable for her she eventually rolled over onto her stomach. The chains of her cuffs twisted together, lessening her wiggle room a bit, but she still found this position lying on her belly to be the most comfortable so far.

She used her face and forearms to slide the pillow back into position under her head. It was tricky, but she eventually got it where she wanted it. She laid like that, and tried closing her eyes once again. The cloth that was stuffed in her mouth is probably what frustrated her more than anything. Having her movement robbed from her was one thing, but having her voice taken away as well just highlighted her imprisonment that much more. Then the fact that the person who was doing this to her was impossible to reason with. She was so dead set on, " _This is how it must be."_ It was just so frustrating!

At least Homura was no longer just tying her to the bed spread-eagle. That was the worst since it restricted her movement _completely_. Plus it was really embarrassing and made her feel so vulnerable. Being tied with the fuzzy handcuffs was a _little_ better... she supposed...

...Homura said she was doing all this to try to help her. To keep her safe. Madoka never felt so horrible in her entire life, though. So what could Homura possibly be protecting her from when she was causing her to feel like this? Even if she wasn't a bad person… she was just misguided… and… Madoka could not say she hated her...

Maybe that is why she felt guilty? Because she really _should_ hate this person… but she didn't, and she just wished that she would come home soon.

 **III**

Sayaka gasped and stepped forward, raising a fist at the redhead. "What are you saying?"

Kyoko chuckled as she produced a box of pocky from under her tunic. She flipped the top open and pulled one out with her mouth. "I'm saying a little while ago I came across Homura and this friend of yours. Pink hair, right? Kind of annoying voice? Can't stop preaching about the value of niceness and whatnot? Sound about right?"

"Where?" Sayaka asked, "I-is she alright?"

"Is she alright?" Kyoko grinned. "Yeah, I'd say so. She looked A-okay to me. Seemed to me she didn't entirely mind being dragged around like Homura's little puppy dog."

"And what's _that_ suppose to mean?" Sayaka asked, tightening her fist and scowling at the redhead.

"Kyoko, stop it," Homura cautioned in her dry voice.

Kyoko ignored her and continued. "Just like I said, Homura here had a collar and a leash around Madoka's neck, leading her around like she's a dog or somethin'."

Sayaka's turned back to Homura with fury in her eyes. "What the hell? Is what she saying true? Are you really treating my friend like that?"

Kyoko shrugged her shoulders and laughed. "Hey, relax there rookie. Like I said, Madoka didn't seem to entirely mind. She even begged me to save Homura's life after she got messed up by a group of familiars, instead of just taking the chance to run away. I'm telling ya' pinkie is totally into being this chick's little petgirl."

"You shut your mouth!" Sayaka yelled, turning back to her once again and summoning a sword into her hands, taking an attack ready stance. "That's my best friend you are talking about! And there is no way that's true!"

"Sayaka!" said Mami, stepping forward and putting her palm out to slow her down. "She is just trying to provoke you. Do not listen to her."

"Think whatever you want," Kyoko said with a sigh, "I'm only telling it the way I saw it. And you really should listen to your senpai, rookie. You are way out of your league pointing that blade at me."

Mami scowled at the redhead. "Kyoko, if you have no other business here, why don't you just be on your way now? I don't want to have to threaten you."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed in response. "Sounds to me like you just did."

"You can take it any way you wish," said Mami. "You are a bit out numbered here, however. So why don't you quit being stubborn and just go your own way? As I said before, I do not wish to fight with you."

Homura, from her suspended position in the middle of the hall, left her face placid as Kyoko continued provoking the other girls. Homura did not know what Kyoko's intentions were, but she was unwittingly giving her an opportunity for escape. With everyone's attention on the redhead Homura carefully shifted around inside her bindings, stretching the fingertips of her right hand toward the shield over her left wrist.

She had been caught in Mami's binding spell in past timelines, and she had learned that at a certain point of the spell being cast it would be impossible to avoid. However, in those last seconds she learned to position her hands behind her back where she might have some hope of reaching her shield, and thus producing a tool that may be able to help her escape.

Kyoko stared Mami down for a while, perhaps gauging the situation. Granted, she was outnumbered, but two of her three opponents were complete rookies, and she had more magical power saved up than the three of them combined. Still, she apparently thought against it for now, and gave her shoulders a shrug. "Whatever, I already got my GriefSeed, so I guess it's pointless. Now, as for _smiles_ over there... When she says she kidnapped Madoka not just to eliminate competition, I don't think she is lying about that. If that _were_ the case, maybe she really would eventually crack just from being forced to… eh… _hang out,_ with you guys for a while. It's not like that though, and if you want her to give it up you are going to have to do something a bit more drastic."

"Something more drastic?" Sayaka asked, her eyes widening in understanding of what Kyoko was getting at.

Kyoko's grin subtly became more malicious as the thoughts crossing Sayaka's mind clearly printed themselves upon her face. "Get it? What the twerp said about torture was on the right track, at least, but you need to adjust the actual method a bit. If I were you I'd try out breaking a few fingers first, and see how she responds to that. If that's not enough…" Her grin sharpened. "Well, guess you'll have to start getting creative."

"That's…" Mami seemed at a loss for words, apparently unable to believe Kyoko could be so dark. Nagisa likewise seemed rather horrified by the suggestion. Sayaka, however, let her head lower as a dark shadow cast over her face and her grip tightened on her sword.

Mami got her thoughts together and said, "There is no way we would ever stoop to such methods. I'm sure Homura can be reasoned with without…"

Sayaka suddenly turned around and slashed her sword towards Homura, stopping with the tip of the blade just under Homura's neck. Homura grimaced, recoiling as much as she could to avoid the blade.

"Sayaka?" Mami asked.

"Just give her back," said Sayaka in a dark voice. She was trying to keep herself steady, but her hand began to tremble as it gripped the sword tighter. "She's my best friend, and there is no way she is okay with what you are doing to her! Part of the reason I became a Magical Girl is so that I could protect her. I… I have to save her… even if…" Her blade lowered from Homura's neck and went down to her exposed shoulder where Mami's ribbons did not have her wrapped. "Even if I have to do something like this."

Mami's hand raised, but lowered again, unsure of what to do. Her back was now fully turned to Kyoko who stepped a little bit closer, grinning mischievously as she assessed the situation.

"I told you," said Homura in her cold emotionless voice. "Forget about Madoka." Their eyes locked together. "You are not capable of protecting her."

Sayaka's recoiled in shock, as if she had just been slapped in the face. Then her eyes darkened, she tightened her grip and without a second thought stabbed her blade forward. Homura's teeth clenched together with a pained groan as the sword plunged into her body. A red stain appeared around the blade and her body thrashed within her bindings, completely helpless to get away from it.

"Don't make me do this!" Sayaka screamed, her other hand gripped the sword and twisted it, pulling a louder scream out of Homura as she prepared to pull down and open the flesh wound into something far more lethal. "Just tell me where she is!"

"Sayaka! STOP!" Mami yelled and stepped forward.

Now not a single eye was on Kyoko and the redhead saw an opening to strike. Without warning, her heels dug back and she sprang forward. Before Mami could reach Sayaka, Kyoko leaped between them, quickly jolted her elbow back and hit Mami in the chest, then fed as much magic as she could into her foot as she spun around in one quick maneuver and kicked Mami right in the center of her stomach. The power of the kick was massively increased by the amount of magic she put behind it and Mami was sent flying down the hall. Sayaka glanced over her shoulder with widened eyes. Homura wriggled and turned within her suspension, trying in vain to escape the blade that had pierced her.

Before Mami could even touch down on the ground again Kyoko waved her hand, enchanting a red chain-linked barrier which split the hall in half, leaving Mami on one side, and Kyoko along with Nagisa, Sayaka, and the bound up Homura on the other side. Sayaka realized what was going on and quickly turned around, pulling her blade out of Homura as another scream escaped the ravenette's lips.

Sayaka slashed at Kyoko who summoned her spear into her hands just in time to block the blow. "So you are on her side after all!" Sayaka shouted, pulling her blade back so she could slash once again. Kyoko effortlessly blocked it.

"I'm not on anyone's side, I'm on my own side and right now you losers are the biggest obstacle for me." She stuffed Sayaka's blade away from her, spun the spear around her back and then led with the handle which smacked Sayaka across her face. Sayaka stumbled and fell into the wall, but quickly regained herself and raised her sword defensively to block Kyoko's spear which descended on her like a guillotine. She managed to get her sword under it but her whole body shook with the effort of holding it back.

Kyoko grinned, the force which Sayaka was struggling against was apparently effortless to her. "What's wrong? Having a little trouble there, rookie?"

Sayaka cried out out as she was forced down to her knees, using all her strength to keep herself from being crushed under the weight of the spear. "H-how?" she managed to croak out, barely able to spare the little bit of effort to say that one word. She understood that Kyoko could overpower her at any moment, but the redhead was only exerting just enough to keep her in submission. She was toying with her.

Nagisa had jumped down from the windowsill with her trumpet in her hand, but she didn't seem to know what to do with it. "Hey! S-stop it! You're hurting her!"

Mami had tried to break through Kyoko's barrier, but quickly realized how strongly reinforced it was. Kyoko had a huge surplus of magical energy which she was pouring into her spells. That is why it was so easy for her to overpower Sayaka too. "Kyoko! That was cheap!" Mami shouted.

"Yeah, sneak attacks really suck, huh?" Kyoko said, looking over her shoulder at Mami and grinning. Sayaka now seeming to only be an afterthought for her as she effortlessly kept her down. "Figured I'd give you a little payback for what happened earlier."

"But I also let you go!" said Mami. "So please stop this!"

"I told you to take advantage of the opportunity you had, didn't I? Letting me go is a mistake only an idiot would make. Don't act like I owe you something now."

Nagisa finally realized that if Mami could have done something she would have by now, and thus realized it was up to her to save Sayaka. She brought her trumpet up to her lips and blew hard, sending forth a scatter of gray bubbles.

Kyoko kicked her foot hard it into Sayaka's midsection, putting enough magic behind it to throw Sayaka's back against the wall. Sayaka instantly lost all the air in her lungs and her body fell limp. Chips of plaster broke off the wall and rained down on her as she hit the ground.

Kyoko turned to face her new opponent and started spinning her spear in circles, twirling it like a baton as it slashed every single bubble that came towards her. Each one let off a considerable explosion as it popped, the shock wave from each blowing her hair and tunic, but leaving her completely unharmed.

Nagisa could only keep the bubbles flowing for a short while before she had to catch her breath, and Kyoko was instantly on the move for a counter attack.

She slashed her spear at Nagisa who let out a terrified scream and put her arms up over her face; flinching away and closing her eyes. Kyoko stopped the attack short, clicked her tongue against her teeth, and instead used the handle of her spear to swipe Nagisa's feet right out from under her. She then repositioned the spear in her hands and put the tip to Nagisa's neck. "Stay down, next attack I'm not going easy on you."

"B-but why are you doing this?" Nagisa asked, "You're a Magical Girl too, so let's be friends!"

Kyoko grinned. "And that kind of thinking right there is the reason the three of you will never beat me." She looked over to Mami who was staring her down from the other side of the barrier, unable to do anything to help. "Let me ask you something, _senpai,_ how many GriefSeeds has your little trio of heroes managed to gather since the last time we met eight days ago?"

Mami did not answer, just continued watching her with that stern expression. Kyoko got annoyed and pushed the spear closer to Nagisa's neck. "Well? Wanna answer for your senpai, twerp?"

"Ah! Uh-um- two!" Nagisa cried out as she flinched away from the spear.

Kyoko laughed, "Two? That's it?"

"We also defeated lots of familiars!" said Nagisa, trying to defend her team's honor. That only sent Kyoko into a fresh wave of laughter.

"That's even worse! First of all, your splitting GriefSeeds three ways, so individually you're barely getting anything at all, and then you waste what little precious magic you have on fighting familiars which offer no rewards? I'll tell you this: since the last time we met I have gathered five GriefSeeds, and they were all for me. That's why I was able to win so easily, because the three of you don't even have a _fraction_ of the power I've got stored up."

"You won because of a dirty trick!" Sayaka shouted from her defeated position, still holding her stomach where she had taken such a powerful blow.

"If Mami had more magic she could have blown right through my barrier. If you had enough magic to enhance yourself you might have stood a better chance against me as well, and if the little girl here had more she may have been able to keep those bubbles coming until I was overwhelmed and couldn't block them anymore. Or, she could have made them more powerful so I would not be able to just swat them out of the air like that. You lost because of your senpai's bad leadership, and not prioritising GriefSeeds. That's the only reason this is happening right now."

"It's only because you don't give a damn about anyone other than yourself!" Sayaka shouted, "We've been trying to help people while all you care about is GriefSeeds! What kind of way is that for a Magical Girl to act?"

Kyoko sighed. "You can be true and just all you want, but if you never think about simply winning then you'll lose every time. That's reality, screw your stupid hero fantasies."

"Kyoko," said Homura, who had been quietly watching the battle until now. "Quit toying with them and just break the lock to free me already."

Kyoko glanced over to her with a bored uninterested expression. "Do you mind? It's rude to interrupt. I'm in the middle of something here, and honestly yer' just fine where you are."

Homura's eyes darkened as her hand repositioned the tool she had retrieved from her shield space and started discretely sawing at the ribbons behind her back. "If you are not planning to help me, then what was the point of all this?"

Kyoko grinned. "Seems to me I'm in perfect position to completely wipe out all my competition. These rookies don't stand a chance against me, you are totally defenceless right now too, and then all I have to do is finish Mami off one-on-one and this entire city is mine."

"If that is your intention, then why don't you just get on with it?" Homura asked.

Kyoko's face stiffened, apparently not liking getting called on her bluff. "I said I'm getting to it!" she shouted angrily.

In a way, Homura knew Kyoko better than anyone, and she could actually say that for everyone in this room aside from Nagisa who did not exist in previous timelines. Kyoko was a lot of things, but Homura knew she wasn't a murderer, and she was only lying to herself if she was talking about killing all four of them in cold blood. In truth, Kyoko possessed none of the cruelty which she attempted to display.

Since Homura knew them all so well, it was a surprise to all but her when Sayaka suddenly leapt from her defeated position on the ground; reinvigorated and ready for the second round.

"Watch out!" Homura shouted, knowing that Kyoko was still her best chance at escape.

Kyoko was too slow this time, however, and Sayaka's blade slashed across her back. Kyoko shouted out in pain as she fell into the windowsill, then quickly spun around and put her spear up to block Sayaka's second attack. "How the hell are you back on your feet? That last attack should have put you out'a commission for at least a couple days!"

"Guess you underestimated me!" Sayaka said, barring her teeth as she tried to overpower Kyoko.

"Maybe so…" Kyoko said as she tapped into her deep well of magical power. "But what I said still stands!" With a burst of strength she threw Sayaka off of her, but Sayaka managed to at least stay on her feet this time and then lunged into a second attack. Kyoko raised her spear as though she were going to block, but instead spun it around, stepped to the side, and swept Sayaka's legs with the handle.

Sayaka's forward momentum sent her tumbling towards the window, and then Kyoko raised her foot to give the bluenette a swift kick in the butt to send her flying out the window the rest of the way.

Sayaka reached her arm out and grabbed the ledge, stopping herself from plummeting down to the city streets below, but Kyoko followed her up into the window and slammed her foot down on top of Sayaka's hand.

"See? You can't beat me rookie," she said, her eyes peircing as the self proclaimed _hero of justice_ dangled with fifteen stories between her and the ground, her white cape flapping in the wind. She was completely at Kyoko's mercy, and Kyoko could kick her hand off the ledge at any moment. Kyoko leaned forward, putting more weight on Sayaka's hand, crushing it and making her scream. "Tell you what, if you ask _really_ nicely I might-"

"NAGISA! GET DOWN!" Mami yelled.

Kyoko glanced back over to her former senpai and found herself staring down the barrel of a giant cannon which took up at least half the width of the hallway. She could see Mami's eyes staring down the barrel, through the red barrier, and locking with hers.

"Oh... shit..." is all Kyoko could say, knowing she had no time to dodge the impending attack.

"TIRO FINALE!"

The gun recoiled back powerfully, shaking the entire building and a magnificent flash of light burst forth. It shattered Kyoko's barrier, hit her dead on and threw her outside, ripping away several chunks of the building which flew away along with her.

Sayaka managed to hang on to the ledge, her body weaving around until the shock of the explosion made its way past her. She saw Kyoko's body tumbling down like a ragdoll, chunks of debris falling with her like hail. Her tunic had been blown almost completely away with only a few scraps still hanging on. Only the black vest underneath kept the upper half of her body covered as she descended downwards.

"Sayaka! Are you ok?" Mami asked, running to the window and then offering Sayaka her hand.

"I'm ok." Mami pulled her up onto the ledge and they both watched as Kyoko's body finished it's decent and hit the ground far below, with pieces of brick and plaster landing on top of her. Mami looked away, closing her eyes with complete despair coming over her face.

"S-Sayaka. Please go down there and heal her..."

"Heal her?" Sayaka asked, looking at the motionless figure far below. "Mami… I think shes…"

Mami put her hand up to stop Sayaka from saying another word. She kept her eyes closed, still unable to look. "Please! Just go… my healing magic won't be enough… s-so…"

"Nobody move," said Homura in a cool dark voice. They both looked at her and froze. Somehow, she had gotten a hand free from her bindings and even though she was still trapped and suspended in the air, she currently held a gun to the back of Nagisa's head. The small girl was frozen in fear as she felt the cold steel pressing against her. "Tomoe, dispel your ribbons or the girl dies. Unlike Kyoko, I will _not_ hesitate."

* * *

 **-Atomyst**


	33. Stay safe

**I**

"Tomoe, dispel your ribbons or the girl dies. Unlike Kyoko, I will not hesitate."

"Homura, don't do anything rash," Mami cautioned her, holding a hand out but not daring to take a step forward.

Luckily for Homura, she was practically a stranger to them at this point in the timeline and they would not know that this threat was mostly a bluff. It was also lucky that they did not yet know the true nature of SoulGems or of the kind of damage a Magical Girl's body could really withstand.

"As long as you do what I say there is nothing to worry about," said Homura in a cool dark voice. "I do not wish to end her life needlessly, but I will do what I must. So just let me go."

Sayaka stepped forward before Mami could get another word out. "There is no way we can do that! Not until you tell us where Madoka is!"

Homura flipped the hammer back on her weapon. At the sound of the metal clicking into place Nagisa flinched and let a terrified squeak escaped her lips. "I suppose the girl will just have to die then. I already warned you not to test me."

Sayaka gritted her teeth, her hand on her sword but likewise not daring to make a move. "Mami, what do we do?" When she glanced over to Mami her intense expression dropped into one of concern. Mami had a rather resigned look to her eyes, no weapon in her hand or any signal that she had any intention of doing anything. "Mami?"

Mami's hand rose and softly brushed through the air. The ribbons responded instantly, loosening their hold on Homura and dropping her. Her heels softly clicked on the ground as she landed.

"NO!" Sayaka screamed, making a move to jump forward. Homura instantly grabbed onto Nagisa, wrapping one arm around her upper body and keeping the gun firmly aimed into the top of her head.

"Don't move!" Homura shouted again, stopping Sayaka's advance.

Sayaka's grip tightened on her sword, she didn't know what to do. They were so close to getting Madoka back and now she was watching that opportunity slip away from her. "Please just let her go home!" is all Sayaka could say.

"It is best that Madoka continues to stay with me. There is no safer place for her."

"You are so full of crap! I don't know why you are doing this to her but there is no way she is ok with any of it!"

"Whether Madoka is ok with it or not is irrelevant," said Homura. "If I simply allowed her to go home she would be dead within a month."

"You can't possibly know that!" Sayaka shouted, "You are just trying to rationalize your crazy bullcrap!"

Mami stepped forward and put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder. "It's no good…" she said in a low voice. "Please just do as I asked and see if it is not too late to save Kyoko's life."

Sayaka spun around to face Mami, knocking her hand away and looking at her with fury in her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Is that Kyoko girl seriously what you are worried about right now? I mean, she tried to kill us! Remember?"

Mami's eyes were unable to meet Sayaka's. "Homura, let Nagisa go and then be on your way… please…"

"Mami! What the hell?!" Sayaka shouted right in her face. "This isn't over! We can-"

"There is nothing we can do!" said Mami, cutting her off. "Surely you see that. I am so sorry, but while she has got Nagisa as a hostage, we can not take a risk and make a move against her. She won."

Homura's eyes narrowed as she watched them. She could see the strain their friendship was under at that moment, and knew that they needed to stay allies. If they could not, then everything would be hopeless once Walpurgisnacht arrived.

"I know this is not the best moment to bring this up," said Homura, "but all of us will need to ally with each other in a month's time. That includes Kyoko if she is not already dead."

Sayaka spun back around, returning her fury back to Homura. "What are you saying now?!" Her voice choked. The anger and frustration was finally taking it's toll on her, and her eyes were beginning to tear up. "Why would we ever be allies with _you_!"

"It is too much to explain at this moment, but soon you will understand. Kyubey may already know what I am talking about by now, so try asking about it next time you see him." Homura then bent her head lower and whispered to Nagisa. "I am letting you go now, but my gun will still be on you. Do not move until I have dissapeared. Do you understand?"

Nagisa's whole body was shaking in fear, but she nodded her understanding. "Ah-huh."

"Ok then," Homura said softly, then released her grip on the small girl and started backing away slowly, keeping the gun pointed at her just as she said she would.

Sayaka watched with a dark expression. Homura could see it in her eyes, and knew all about Sayaka's foolhardy tendencies. Thus it was no surprise to her when Sayaka suddenly sprang forward.

Mami gasped and Nagisa instantly curled down into a ball and put her hands over her head, letting out a loud scream.

"You're not getting away!" Sayaka yelled, blowing right past Nagisa and baring her sword down on Homura within seconds. However, Sayaka's blade only sliced through thin air, for Homura disappeared just moments before the blade would have connected. Sayaka stumbled for a moment, but quickly regained her stance. Her eyes darted all around until they laid on Homura once again.

Homura was now standing on the ledge outside the window, right next to the giant hole created by Mami's _Tiro Finale_. Sayaka's hands tightened on her weapon, full tears managing to roll down her cheeks at this point.

"Do not try that again, it is pointless," said Homura. Her voice was so dark and void of emotion. The unmoved expression on her face showed clearly that she would never budge on any talk of allowing Madoka her freedom.

Sayaka understood it really was impossible now, and her face was wrecked with despair. She wasn't going to be able to save her friend. Homura was going to get away!

Homura looked towards the sky, she could hear sirens approaching. "You had better get down there and gather Kyoko's body. I hope that you are able and willing to save her life, if it is not already too late."

"Damn you!" said Sayaka, her hands shaking. "I swear I'm going to find a way to stop you!" Homura glanced back over to her. There was something akin to pity in her eyes, and Sayaka hated her for it. "You are not getting away with this!"

Homura sighed, her skirt blowing in the wind with the tops of the cityscape far in the distance behind her. "Just be sure that you do everything you can to save Kyoko Sakura. We will need her when Walpurgisnacht arrives."

Mami's eyes widened. "Walpurgisnacht?"

Then without another word, Homura disappeared.

 **II**

It was several hours before Homura made it back to their hotel room. She had missed her chance at gathering the box witch's GriefSeed and thus needed to go find another before she could return home. Luckily, she knew of a minor witch that she was able to track down and destroy quite easily. It's GriefSeed did not offer her SoulGem a substantial amount of purity, but it was enough to hold her over.

On her way home she had stopped into a fast food restaurant for Madoka, realizing that she must be very hungry by now and probably would not want to wait for dinner to be cooked.

 _I hope she isn't too mad at me…_

Homura opened the door of their hotel room and closed it behind herself. "I'm home. Sorry I'm so late." She set the fast food bag down on the counter as she walked to Madoka's room and flipped on the lightswitch.

Madoka was laying on her belly. She stirred for a moment, hiding her eyes under her forearms so she could adjust to the light, then she peeked over her shoulder and looked at Homura through the corner of one eye. She looked worn, and beaten.

Homura quickly went to the nightstand right beside her where she had left the key, then undid the handcuffs. Madoka rubbed her wrists as Homura undid her ankle cuffs, and as soon as she was free from her chains she sat up and let her legs hang over the side of the bed.

"Are you ok?" Homura asked as she sat down next to her.

Madoka nodded her head. Her fingers reached up to the tape around her mouth and softly scratched at it, trying to peel it back.

"Here, let me do that," said Homura. Madoka's head bowed down as Homura worked the tape loose from the back of her neck. It had been wrapped around several times, and the first few passes came undone quite easily. The final pass over which connected directly to her skin was a bit trickier. Homura did it slowly to avoid hurting her too much. The very back of her neck was the hardest part as there was no way to prevent it from pulling the little hairs at the bottom of her neck line, and Madoka winced and tightened her hands in response to the minor pain.

Once the tape was off Homura helped her spit out the cloth which was used to gag her, and then went to the kitchen to dispose of it. She gathered the fast food bag and wetted a paper towel to clean Madoka's mouth with. "I got some food for you," said Homura as she set the bag on the nightstand and sat down next to her. She started dabbing around Madoka's mouth with the paper towel, cleaning away the drool which was coated around her lips. Once that was done she reached across her to grab the food bag. "I figured you would-"

Madoka unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Homura, pressed her face firmly against Homura's chest and hugged her tightly. Homura's normally pale face instantly filled in with color. Her hands hovered just above Madoka's shoulders for a moment, then she very carefully put her hands around Madoka's back and returned the hug. "Are… you okay?" she asked.

Madoka nodded. "Just hold me for a while please… I was mad at you for a while today, but I don't want to be mad now. I'm just glad you're back."

 _She's glad that I'm back?_ For some reason those words made Homura feel good. She did not question it though, and simply did as Madoka asked and held her a little tighter. They stayed like that for what felt like a very long time.

Eventually Madoka pulled away, and reached for the bag of food. "Did you give that letter to my mother?" she asked as she started unwrapping a cheeseburger.

"Yes."

"Then I can call her tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Madoka bit into the cheeseburger, and once she started eating she didn't slow down until it was gone. She must have been very hungry.

"There's nothing in here for you," Madoka noted when she was done with her meal. "Did you eat already?"

Homura thought back. No, she hadn't eaten and that thought honestly had not even crossed her mind. The idea that Madoka needed food was the only thing she thought of when she stopped in the fast food restaurant earlier, but now that Madoka had asked she realized she was quite hungry herself after all. "No… I havn't."

"I'll make something for you, then." Madoka stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

"You don't have to do that," said Homura, walking after her.

"It's ok, just let me do it. I want to. You can just go watch TV."

"Oh… okay then." Homura glanced over to the undone latch on the front door, then walked over to where she had hidden the combination lock. She brought it to the door and snapped it into place, then gave the dial a twirl. Once the lock was secure she went back to the couch and turned on the TV. She couldn't get herself to concentrate on any of the programing however, and eventually gravitated back to the kitchen where Madoka was sauteing some broken up hamburger meat.

Homura worried about that distant gaze in Madoka's eyes, and the way her voice held that low defeated tone. This would not be the first time Madoka had been in one of these kinds of moods, and it is always what worried Homura the most. She almost wished that Madoka was shouting at her right now, rather than cooking dinner for her.

She wanted to say something, but couldn't quite think of anything. Simply asking, " _are you okay?"_ never does any good. Madoka would say that she is fine, even if she wasn't.

Of course she was not fine, but had Homura not kidnapped her and taken her here she would have ended up even more not fine. That was the thing Homura had to keep reminding herself of. Madoka might be miserable being trapped here like this, but at least she was safe… and alive...

"Why are you watching me like that?" asked Madoka. Homura flinched, just now realizing she had indeed been quietly watching Madoka from the other side of the kitchen. "Do you think I might be up to something?" Madoka asked. "Well I'm not…"

"That's not it. I was just thinking about some things."

Madoka went over to the fridge to grab a few vegetables, then she looked for the cutting board in one of the cabinets and started cutting them up while the hamburger meat continued to sizzle on the stove.

She had been far more obedient lately, compared to how she was when she was first taken here. She would not put up any kind of struggle when Homura needed to tie or chain her to the bed, nor has she tried any kind of attempt at escaping in quite a while. Even if her attitude was not the cheerful Madoka that Homura wanted to see, in some ways it might be better that she was like this. Maybe it was cruel, but it made her easier to control.

Homura walked up behind her as she was cutting the vegetables, and softly put her arms around her. Madoka's hands only slowed for a moment before continuing their work, and when Homura saw that she did not mind, she held on a little tighter and rested her head over Madoka's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Madoka asked.

"I just want to be close with you… If it bothers you I'll stop."

Madoka brought a hand down to Homura's, placed it on top for a moment, then said: "It's ok. I don't mind." That made Homura smile.

It was such a simple thing, being close to the girl who she loved. It is all she ever really wanted and she had suffered through an unimaginable hell to achieve it. The battle was not over yet, however. It would not be over until Walpurgis Night had passed, and then it would be a simple matter of keeping Madoka her captive until she could no longer make a contract. After that? Well… it was a long time away, and she would just have to wait and see...

"Thanks again for letting me call my mom," said Madoka. "It means a lot to me."

"Of course… I want you to be happy."

Homura knew how Madoka felt, being kept away from her friends and family, but she hoped that eventually Madoka could be ok with it. One day, maybe she really could be happy with this kind of a life. Homura hoped so, at least.

 **III**

" _TIRO! FINALE!"_

 _..._

 _What the hell?…_

The last thing Kyoko could clearly remember was a bright flash of light, then everything just spinning around her. She could remember a glimpse of blue sky one second, then the sides of some buildings, the city streets, the sky again.

 _Where am I now?_

She was staring at a ceiling, but when she tried to move her neck to look around an intense sharp pain ran down her body. She groaned and tried to move her arm, but once again found that trying to force it only hurt her more.

"Huh?" she heard a small voice say. "H-hey! Um… she's awake!" Then Kyoko heard the patter of footsteps running away from her.

She tried to open her mouth to speak, but found something was restricting her jaw. In the painful condition of her body it would have been difficult to speak one way or another. A shadow appeared over her, or at least it looked like a shadow at first, until her vision focused and she saw it was the blue-haired rookie.

"So you're not dead," said Sayaka in a rather dry tone. Kyoko tried to say something back but all she could manage was a distressed groan. Sayaka let out a sigh and said, "Well, guess my work here is done. Sorry, but I can't spare any more magic trying to fix you up." She reached down out of Kyoko's point of view, then returned in her focus with a blue school bag which she started reaching through. She took something out, then set the bag down and open a small hand mirror.

Kyoko's eyes widened as she saw the condition of her own body. She had a sheet laid over her, covering her lower body from her midsection down. Her chest, arms, face and head were heavily wrapped with bandages. She did not have any proper clothing on, but she was so thoroughly covered in bandages that it did not matter. The left side of her body was the worst, because in many areas of the wrappings small dots of red had bled through. Her left eye was swollen shut. The right was bloodshot with more red than white in it and a dark black and blue ring surrounding it.

She groaned, tried to move, but only her right arm managed to lift a little bit and set off sharp pain all along the muscles in her back. It felt like she was being stabbed by hundreds of knives all at once. Sayaka snapped the mirror closed.

"Anyway, like I said I did all I can do for now. Really, that's all I'm _willing_ to do for you either. In my opinion, even this much is more than you are worth."

Kyoko narrowed her eye at Sayaka, the other eye was too badly bruised and swollen to move, and she spoke to her telepathically. " _Idiot. Why did you even bother?"_

Sayaka's own expression hardened as she looked down on the broken girl. "Don't get the wrong idea, I only did this much for Mami's sake. I personally thought it'd be a better idea to just leave you there. Not that I'm worried about you sticking around our city and competing with us. I just would have rather not spared the magical energy."

" _That's not too heroic there, Miss. Hero of Justice."_

"I'd rather have used my magic to help people who are actually worth it. In this case it couldn't be helped, though. Who knows, maybe you'll learn your lesson after all this and turn a new leaf. I'm not exactly holding my breath for any of that, though. Well, I'm leaving now."

" _You damn arrogant bitch!"_ Kyoko shouted through her telekinesis. " _The only reason you're still walking is cause' Mami caught me off guard! As soon as I heal myself I'm taking you out! Got it?"_

"I don't know if you realize this," said Sayaka. "But you look pretty pathetic right now."

Kyoko paused, the pupil of her one semi-good eye shrinking to a pinpoint. Then she forced herself up onto her good elbow and leaned towards Sayaka as much as she could. She growled from her position on the floor, ignoring the stabbing feeling which course all throughout her body.

Mami came rushing over from the other side of the apartment, Nagisa right behind her. "Whats going on!?" She looked at Sayaka for an explanation but the bluenettes eyes sank away defiantly, not offering one.

Mami instead rushed over to Kyoko side and guided her back to a full lying position. "Sakura-san! You need to calm yourself! You could end up reopening your wounds!"

Kyoko didn't have the strength to fight back, and ended up letting herself be guided back down. Once the anger passed her the pain was impossible to ignore and it was some kind of a torture to just lay there and bare it.

"Listen, I am not trying to force you to stay here. As soon as you can get up and walk out that door you are free to do whatever you wish. Until then, though, you'll be under my care. So try to just accept it."

" _Why'd you bring me here?"_ Kyoko asked telepathically.

"Considering that you are a Magical Girl I thought it might be better for us to treat you. We were able to close most of your wounds with magic, as well as bring the major bone fractures back together, but there is only so much we can do. Of course, if you'd rather go to the hospital after all I will take you there."

" _Idiot, that's not what I'm asking,"_ said Kyoko. " _I'm sayin why didn't you just leave me on the street? You're wasting magic on me now too. You should have just finished what you started and let me die._ "

"I am not even going to dignify that with a response," said Mami as she stood up. "I'm making soup. If you are too weak to feed yourself I'm going to have to do it for you. Either way, you have to eat, so I am not taking no for an answer." Then she turned around and walked towards the exit of the room. Nagisa was peaking through the threshold but moved out of Mami's way as she approached. "Come on Nagisa, let's leave her alone and let her rest until dinner is ready." With that she closed the door, leaving Kyoko behind.

Kyoko returned her gaze to the ceiling, letting out an annoyed sigh. There was nothing she could do about it; she was stuck.

"Sayaka, wait a moment," said Mami before Sayaka could make it out the front door.

Sayaka looked back at her with that same disconnected expression, one hand on the doorknob.

Mami bowed her head. "I am so sorry that Homura ended up getting away. I… I really tried my best, but the situation just did not work out for us."

Sayaka paused for a long moment, unable to look Mami in the eyes until she eventually said, "If that girl you've got banaged up in there hadn't shown up, Homura would not have found an opening to escape. I could have had Madoka back by now."

"Sayaka…"

"I'm fine with healing her, I guess I can't just sit by and do nothing and let someone die… even if she really is not worth saving. I'm suppose to be one of the good guys, right? So I didn't have a choice on that end. However, it is her fault that Madoka is still locked up somewhere. I am not going to forget that."

"I understand, and you have every right to be angry… I… I wish you would stay the night here though, or at least stay for dinner. I'm worried that you feel like you _have_ to leave, and I promise you that's not the case."

"It's not like that," said Sayaka. "I just got some stuff to do. You know, laundry and all that."

"Ok, very well then… Um, see you after school tomorrow?"

Sayaka took a moment to respond, then in an unenthusiastic tone said, "Yeah." She then opened the door and left.

Mami sighed and looked back to Nagisa. "What about you? Think you can stay for dinner?"

Nagisa nodded her head, "Yeah, I'll need to go home right after that, though."

Mami smiled, "Alright then, want to give me a hand in the kitchen?"

"Sure!" Nagisa said back with a big smile.

It was a simple recipe and Mami didn't really need too much from Nagisa. She asked her to cut a few vegetables up, or would get her to grab things from the cabinets as they prepared the meal.

"Hey Mami?" Nagisa asked once she was done with all her small tasks and Mami was standing at the stove stirring a pot.

"What is it?"

"Um… who is, Momo?" Mami's hand slowed its stirring. "Um, when mean girl... I-I mean, Sakura-san was unconscious she kept muttering _Momo_ , right? It sounded to me like that was somebody's name. So do you know who it is?"

"Yes, I do. That was the name of her little sister."

"Was?" Nagisa eyes sunk down to the floor. "I see. Does… that mean she died?"

Mami nodded her head. "Kyoko was a very different person before that day. She was once my ally, and she was once a kind hearted person who cared very much for others."

"What happened?"

Mami was quiet for a long time, trying to think over how to respond. "It is a long story, and I am not sure if Kyoko would be ok with me telling it. Her whole family died though, and Kyoko believes that she is to blame for all of it."

Nagisa's eyes widened as her gaze drifted over to the closed door which Kyoko was laying behind. Mami said that she wouldn't tell the story, and Nagisa accepted that. She couldn't help feeling sorry for the mean girl, though. Nagisa thought about her own mother, and how she almost lost her. She almost felt like she could relate… would she have become a mean person like Kyoko too if her mom really had ended up dying? She thought it was possible.

"Do you think that means she isn't really a bad person after all?" Nagisa asked.

Once again, it took Mami a while to respond but she eventually came up with an answer. "I honestly don't know _who_ she is anymore. I like to think that is the case, though. I'd love nothing more than for her to return to the person who she once was."

Nagisa didn't ask Mami about it beyond that. She could see it was hard on her, and she didn't like seeing Mami sad.

They ate together at the glass triangular table in Mami's livingroom. Kyoko wouldn't be able to feed herself so Mami was going to help her with it once she and Nagisa were done.

After their bowls were empty Nagisa set her spoon down, put her hands together and bowed her head. "Thank you for the meal!"

"Of course," Mami said with a smile. "Well, guess you'd better go home before it gets too late."

Nagisa nodded. "Yeah, you're right." Mami walked her to the door to let her out, but before leaving Nagisa wrapped her arms around her tightly and buried her face in her stomach.

"Nagisa?"

"I'm really glad I'm friends with you!" said Nagisa. "I never really had anyone other than mama… and papa before he passed away. So I am really glad I met you!"

Mami tightened her hug on the young girl and said, "Me too. I am very happy that we became friends."

"If you need anything just call me, ok?" Nagisa said, referring to the fact they lived close enough to speak telepathically.

"Of course, and you know the same goes to you as well."

After letting Nagisa out Mami went back to the kitchen to pour Kyoko a bowl of soup. She then stood outside of Kyoko's bedroom door, sighed, and thought: _Ok, here it goes._

She opened the door, giving it a few soft knocks as she came through. "Are you awake?" she asked as she cautiously walked over to her injured houseguest. Kyoko remained with her back flat against the futon but her one good eye moved over to Mami, signaling that she was indeed still awake. "I made soup, are you hungry?"

Kyoko responded telepathically. " _I'm not going to stand for you feeding me. I'll eat when I can lift the spoon myself. So thanks, but no thanks."_

"Sorry, but I'm not sure I can accept that answer," said Mami as she kneeled down behind Kyoko. "You can not rely completely on magic for your recovery. It will be able to do a lot for you, but you still need to take care of your body's basic needs."

Mami positioned herself a little closer, putting the bowl of soup to the side and said. "I need to perch you up, ok? It may hurt a little as I move you." Kyoko didn't respond, so Mami went ahead and put her hands under Kyoko's shoulders and as carefully as she could lifted her up and placed her head in her lap. Kyoko grunted from the pain of the small forced movements, mainly the torn and still healing muscles in her back screaming at her from being forced away from their stationary position. Once she was situated against Mami's lap though, she was fine.

Mami picked up the bowl and brought a spoonful of soup to Kyoko's mouth.

" _You gotta be kidding me…"_

"Quit being stubborn. Isn't it more dignified to not fight me on this?"

" _I swear I'm going to get you back for this."_

"Come on now, don't waste it."

She held the spoon in front of Kyoko's mouth for a while, waiting her out. Eventually Kyoko's lips very slowly cracked open, the spoon pressed against them and it was just enough to suck in the warm liquid. Mami waited for her to swallow then dipped the spoon back into the bowl and returned it to Kyoko's lips.

Once she started eating she was far less resistant. There is no doubt she was hungry, after all, and whatever the circumstances Kyoko always had been ethically opposed to letting food go to waste. At that thought Mami couldn't help a tiny chuckle from escaping her.

Kyoko's good eye instantly shot back up. " _The hell was that? You making fun of me?"_

"No… I am sorry, I was just thinking about something. Anyway, what do you think? Is it good?"

Kyoko accepted another spoonful and said, " _It's fine."_ Mami continued to feed her for a while until Kyoko said, " _You know, this doesn't change anything. The second I'm on my feet again we are right back to being each other's competition. Got it?"_

"If you are determined to see it that way, then I suppose it can't be helped."

" _If you understand that then why are you doing this?"_

"I suppose… because I think I owe it to you."

" _Idiot, you don't owe me anything. Shooting me out that window was the one right thing you did all day."_

"That's not what I meant." Mami set the spoon back into the bowl, and let it fall away from Kyoko's face. Kyoko forced her eye to the top of its lid so she could look at Mami. "We were friends once. Even if we have grown apart, I haven't forgotten what it was like back in those days."

" _Well maybe you should. Things are different now."_

"But… it doesn't _have_ to be that way," said Mami, then she continued feeding Kyoko and they didn't talk much more for the night.

When the bowl was empty Mami helped get Kyoko back into position against the futon and prepared to go to bed herself. "If you need anything just reach out to me telepathically, ok?"

Kyoko's eye sunk to the side. " _There is something I need."_

"Oh, what is it?"

Kyoko paused for a while, and Mami waited patiently for her request. Kyoko eventually said, " _Don't make me say it."_ There was a somewhat abashed tone sneaking through her telepathy.

It took a moment for Mami to understand, and once the realization dawned on her she flinched. "Oh… I see. Ok, I think I have something for that. I'll be right back."

Mami left the room, leaving Kyoko on the mat staring at the ceiling and waiting for her to come back. She thought that today the only thing more damaged than her body was her pride.

 _I seriously hate this..._

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 **-Atomyst.**


	34. Can I say something?

**I**

Over the last week and a half Junko had spent very little time at work. She went to the office a few times to handle some extra sensitive processes that the company _really_ needed her for, and she would also take a few calls here and there, but other than that most of her focus had been on doing anything she could to find her daughter. Her co-workers understood her current family crisis and no one had a problem with the time she was taking off. In fact, the company even put a fund together to help her pay for the private detective she hired, despite her insisting they did not need to do that.

Until yesterday the only progress the investigation was able to make was the letter Madoka sent nearly a week ago. Yesterday, something else finally happened though. She received two more letters; one from her daughter and one from someone else… _the kidnapper._

The letters were left in her mailbox but the detective failed to capture footage of the kidnapper making the drop. When it came to light that he had somehow missed it Junko fired him on the spot in a moment of blind fury. In hindsight, and after fastforwarding through what footage he _did_ have several times, she thought maybe that was unfair and she would give him a call to rehire him later. She had originally thought that he simply was lying about filming all day and missed the moment it happened, but when every second of the day was accounted for through his footage Junko realized this was not the case.

Right now, she was standing in the spot he had been staking out, watching her own house and trying to figure out how the letter could have possibly gotten into her mailbox without him seeing. The police already questioned the mailman, as he instantly became a suspect for the simple reason he was the only person caught on film going anywhere near the mailbox, but the police were not able to make any connections other than that.

The police likewise questioned the detective himself, of course, but since Junko was the one to make initial contact to hire him it would be too huge of a coincidence that he was involved in the very same kidnapping she hired him to investigate.

Either way, Junko did not believe the mailman or the detective could possibly be the kidnapper. The true culprit simply found some way of getting the letter in the mailbox unseen… but how? She stood there, racking her brain, trying to figure it out. It seemed impossible.

She took the kidnappers letter from her pocket and read it. Right now, she was the only person to know of its existence as within the letter there was a stern warning not to tell anyone else about it.

 _Junko Kaname,_

 _I would like to start by assuring you that your daughter is truthful in her own letters when she says she is unharmed. These words will do little to settle you, I am sure, but perhaps getting to personally speak to her will. I am writing this letter to arrange a phone call between you and your daughter._

 _First, you must understand that any attempts to unveil her location or my identity will result in me never_ _allowing such contact again._

 _This includes:_

 _-Forwarding this letter to the police._

 _-Telling anyone (including your husband) about this letter._

 _-Recording the phone call or attempting to have it traced._

 _-Asking Madoka questions that may help you deduce her location or my identity._

 _I hope that you understand this. It is a risk for me to try and set this up, but I am doing it for Madoka's sake because I know how much it would mean to her to get to speak to you. Don't make me regret it. I would like for this to happen more often as well, as I know it will be good for Madoka, so please do not do anything foolish that forces me to never take this risk again._

 _I will be calling a payphone that is located outside the Mitakihara Theater at 05:00pm tomorrow. On the back of this note I will draw a map to identify which one. I will allow Madoka to call that number using a disposable phone which I will then get rid of soon after your call. Again, do not attempt to have the call traced. If I find out, I will never allow Madoka to contact you again. You have been warned._

 _Lastly, I would like you to understand that my detainment of Madoka is a form of protective custody. Perhaps she will like to explain the situation to you herself when the two of you speak, but to put it simply I wish Madoka no harm and am only doing this to help her. It will be hard for you to believe, but that is the truth._

She had gone back and forth in her own head ever since receiving the letter, thinking whether to tell anyone about it or not. She did forward Madoka's letter to the police, but the one from the kidnapper she kept secret. The idea that the kidnapper would allow more than just this one phone call was the main thing that stopped her. If the kidnapper got paranoid and never gave her this chance again then Junko would lose the opportunity to speak to her daughter and that scared her more than anything.

Besides, with more phone calls there would be more opportunities and perhaps in time she would be able to gather some clues on her own. Whether through contact with the kidnapper himself or hints given to her by Madoka.

Junko walked back towards her house and stopped in front of the mailbox. From this angle she looked up and down the street, still trying to figure out how the letters got in there in the first place. She eventually opened the front and looked inside, but that did nothing to help her.

The kidnapper's letter claimed the kidnapping was a form of protective custody, to keep Madoka safe. Safe from what? That was probably a big clue right there, and she tried to think of anyone who stood out. It implied a few things, at least. It implied that the kidnapper does indeed know Madoka, and it is unlikely that it was a random kidnapping. What was more concerning about that, is that it also implied that the kidnapper was not stable. What could Madoka possibly need protection from? The term _protective custody_ also proved that the kidnapper saw himself as some kind of authority, as if he had the right to make that choice on his own.

Junko knew that whoever this kidnapper was his actions were not based off sound reasoning. She did feel mildly reassured that both Madoka and the kidnapper's letters made a point of saying Madoka was not hurt, but she would feel much better once she actually spoke to her daughter, and even more reassured once this sick bastard who had taken her away was brought to justice and she could physically hold her daughter in her arms again.

She checked her wristwatch then looked to her car. The letter said the call would not be made for quite a while, it was currently only eight in the morning, but she got in her car anyway. She wanted to do some driving around, so she could think, and try to come up with a plan.

She figured she would not push any information out of Madoka with this first phone call, she couldn't risk not getting another one and there is no doubt the kidnapper would be listening, so she'd have to be careful. For now, she would be happy enough just to hear her baby's voice, and reassure her daughter that everything was going to be alright.

 **II**

Madoka was already half awake when she heard Homura come into the room. Her eyes had not quite open yet, but her mind was fully lucid. She peeked through her eyelashes, letting her eyes adjust to the light as she watched Homura walk over to the nightstand where she kept the key to the handcuffs.

"Did you sleep well?" Homura asked. Madoka nodded her head and pushed her wrists towards Homura so she could insert the key and undo the chains. Lately Homura had only been cuffing her hands at night, though whenever she would have to actually leave the hotel room she would restrain Madoka's feet as well.

Madoka got up from the bed as soon as she was free and started stretching out her body and rubbing her wrists. "So when can I call my mom?" she asked.

"Not for a little while. I told her to be at the payphone at five in the afternoon."

"Oh… that late?" Madoka seemed disappointed by that but forced a half hearted smile anyway. "Well, okay then."

Homura started walking back to the kitchen so she could get started on breakfast. Madoka followed her and took a seat on the kitchen side of the bar. Homura started rummaging through the cabinets for pans and ingredients when Madoka asked, "Why so late?"

Homura paused, thought for a moment, then answered, "No particular reason. I simply picked a time. I thought later might be better. After work hours."

"Oh… I see." Madoka then fell into some deep contemplation. Would her mother have still been going to work? she wondered. She supposed she probably would _have_ to; her job was important after all.

She started thinking about school as well. Classes would not have stopped either. There would simply be an empty desk next to Sayaka where she use to sit, but otherwise the world would just be chugging along like it always does... just without her being a part of it.

 _Three years…_ That is how long Homura told her she would be keeping her like this.

Madoka glanced over to Homura as she continued working on cooking breakfast. No, she had actually said three years _at least_. That meant it could be even longer. Even just three years was enough time for the whole world she once knew to change. Tatsuya will be in school by then, all her friends would be in their last years of high school, and who knows what else. Eventually, everyone would start to forget about her and just move on with their lives. Thinking about that made her more afraid than anything else.

She continued staring at Homura. Everybodies lives would be changing, but she would just be stuck here (or wherever else Homura decided to take her) with no one in her life but this one girl. She _wanted_ to hate her for it, she really did. But somehow, it was just not in her. She had mixed feelings towards Homura in spite of everything, and outright hate was not part of it.

"I'm going to take a shower, okay?" Madoka asked.

Homura looked up from the cutting board and nodded her head.

On the way to the bathroom Madoka stopped at the front door. Homura had a combination lock installed over it so the option of quickly bolting out into the hallway was no longer available to her. It was pointless anyway, she already knew. Even if she escaped somehow, Homura would just take her right back.

She stared at the lock longer, looking at the numbers, wondering what kind of password Homura would come up with. Would it be a random arrangement of numbers, or something that holds significance to her?

Madoka turned away after a moment and stepped into the bathroom, realizing it was pointless to think about. Even if she did the impossible and discovered the locks combination that _still_ would not be enough for her to have her freedom.

In the bathroom she looked in the mirror.

 _Prisoner._

She shook her head, closed her eyes and sat down on top of the closed toilet seat. _Things will be okay,_ she told herself. She was going to get to speak to her mother at least. Homura really was trying to keep her happy, she supposed, so that was at least one good thing.

Kidnappings happen all the time, and usually it is a horrible situation for the victim. She could have been one of those girls out there who was locked in a basement, barely fed any proper food, and tormented every day by their captor. At least Homura _tried_ to be nice to her. She would buy her anything she asked for (or steal it) and although Madoka had to spend a lot of time tied up and restriction of motion Homura at least _tried_ to make her comfortable when she had to be like that.

She put her hands over her face, and rubbed some of the grogginess out of her eyes. She had not been thinking these kinds of thoughts recently. Why was she doing it now? She supposed knowing that she would be speaking to her mother soon had her looking at her situation in a more analytical way again, so she could try to explain that she really was okay and though she hated being kept away from everyone she at least wasn't being treated poorly. She thought if she could make her mother believe that it would at least calm her nerves… even if there was a chance that it was not _completely_ true…

She sighed, stood up, and then started stripping off her clothes. She took note of how there were no longer any rope marks on her wrists. The fuzzy handcuffs Homura had gotten for her solved that problem, at least. Before when she would look at herself and see those rope marks all over her body it made her feel really upset. So, that was another improvement of her situation… maybe things would continue to get better?

She opted for a quick shower rather than a bath this time, and when she was all done and feeling clean she put her clothes back on, wrapped her hair up in a towel and went back out to the kitchen to eat.

Homura was just putting Madoka's plate down on the bar as she came out, then looked up at her and gave a warm smile. "Perfect timing."

Madoka returned the smile and sat down.

 **III**

Kyoko had enough magic left over to spare using it on healing her arms a little more. The rest of her body was slowly being repaired through her static healing factor, but at it's current rate it would take weeks for her to be functional on her own again. She at least was able to prop herself up on one elbow now, although it was painful, and she could use her other arm to lift a fork to her mouth. Mami had made scrambled eggs and cut up an orange into bite sized pieces for her, then left the plate by her bedside.

"You not going to school today?" Kyoko asked as she swallowed and then concentrated on using the side of the fork to cut another bite-sized piece of egg. Her hand was shaking as she repositioned it to poke through the piece she cut away, then her face tensed in pain as she rose it up to her mouth.

"I can afford to take some time off, at least until you are healed enough to move around the apartment on your own. Luckily, it's friday so we have at least another two days for you to improve."

"I've just barely got my arms moving, and that took a lot of help from magic. It's going to be more than just a few days before my legs are good enough for me to stand."

"Well, we'll see how things go. I can claim to have a health problem and my teachers should allow me to make up my work."

"I don't get what the point of school is anyway. You're a Magical Girl, it seems like a waste of time when you already got a job fighting witches." Kyoko grunted as she cleaned the fork and then let her arm fall limp again. She grimaced as she chewed and swallowed.

Mami started to get up, feeling an urge to give her a hand. "I-I really wish you would let me help you with that."

"You've done enough. Too much, really." Kyoko eyed the plate, as if strategically planning how to obtain her next bite. "Like I said, if you were smart you would have just let me die back there."

"There is no way I could do that."

Kyoko didn't respond and put the fork down. She eyed the cup of tea Mami laid out for her and her hand shook as she reached for it. Once it was lifted off the ground her hand shook even more violently, and some of the liquid spilled over the top. She grunted, gave up, and tried to put it back down again, but both of Mami's hands then set themselves around the cup and gently helped her raise it. Kyoko eyes darkened, looking like she wanted to complain about the assistance.

"You are going to spill it," said Mami. "At least let me help with the things you really _can't_ do on your own for now."

Kyoko opened her mouth to say something, but gave it up. She bowed her head down to put her lips against the cup. Mami carefully tilted it towards her and allowed her to drink then helped her set it back down again. Once the cup was back in its place Kyoko's hand went back to the fork and started working on the eggs again.

"Go get me a paper and something to write with," said Kyoko as she stuffed a rather large chunk of egg into her mouth. She did it too quickly, and instantly flinched in pain and let out a gasp, spurting and losing some of the food. She paused, closed her eyes and willed the pain away. It worked to an extent, but she wouldn't raise her eyes because she did not want to see the pitying expression on Mami's face.

Mami sighed. "You don't have to be so stubborn." She reached for a napkin and cleaned up the little chunks of egg that fell out of Kyoko's mouth. "There is nothing wrong with accepting help if you need it, you know."

"Just get me something to write with."

"What for?"

When Kyoko didn't respond Mami let out another sigh and then got up to go look for the requested items and throw the soiled napkin away. She came back with a small notepad and a pen and set it near her. Kyoko poked her fork through the last of her egg, carefully brought it up to her mouth and then pushed the plate away. She reached for the notepad and Mami moved it closer to help her, then opened the pen and set it in her hand.

Kyoko started writing down directions and Mami watched curiously as she did so.

"This will lead you to my last hideout," Kyoko explained. "I left my bag there. It has some of my things as well as a couple unused GriefSeeds."

"A couple?" Mami asked with a surprised tone in her voice. Based on the fight Kyoko had with them earlier it was apparent she already had deep reserves of magic available to her. Aside from that, she had two _additional_ GriefSeeds that were not in use? In Mami's entire career as a Magical Girl she never had a single extra GriefSeed available to her. They were a hard resource to come by and the prospect of having extras just lying around sounded impossible to her. "You have two _extra_ seeds? How is that possible?"

"Don't act like you don't get it." Kyoko finished writing the directions and then let the pen fall from her hand. She carefully laid herself back down on the bed, her face tensing with pain until she was settled, then she simply closed her eyes and laid there. "I'm going to try and get some sleep until you get back."

"I…" Mami picked up the notepad, her eyes shifting between it and Kyoko. "I don't want to leave you here by yourself."

"If I wanted to steal anything I could have easily robbed you blind last time I was here," said Kyoko with her eyes still closed. "Not like I can move around at all, so don't worry about it."

"You know that is not what I was thinking!" Mami practically shouted at her.

Kyoko peeked her one good eye open to look at her, then closed it again. "One of those GriefSeeds is for the rookie who healed me. I don't want to owe her anything."

"Kyoko…" Mami asked carefully, her voice wavering a little. "I… I want to know why you are so cold to me." She watched Kyoko's face for a while, waiting for her to respond. Kyoko just remained completely still with her eyes closed. "Did I do something wrong?" Mami asked. "What happened two years ago… well, it was a difficult time and maybe I wasn't supportive enough but I never-"

"Stop it," Kyoko said. "I don't blame you for anything. What happened has nothing to do with you, so put your stupid guilty conscious at ease." She paused. "There is nothing you could have done differently. We are just different people with different values. So I left. Simple as that."

Mami shook her head. "The Sakura-san I use to know did not share those _values_ with the one I see now."

"I guess it seems that way to you, but this really is who I am. Who I've _always_ been. I use to help people just because I felt obligated to, but I still felt cheated whenever I didn't get something in return. That's the truth. It took me a while to figure out I didn't actually owe anything to anyone. I just woke up and realized I didn't really have to do it, so now I'm following what my heart really wants."

"Well what does your heart really want then?" Mami asked.

Kyoko took a while to respond, but eventually said, "I dunno, but being some self-righteous hero of justice isn't a part of it."

"Can I say something?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

Mami's eyes narrowed. "You try to act like you have things all figured out, but from where I am standing you just seem completely lost… and… I feel sorry for you." Kyoko kept her eyes closed, but her lips stiffened into a scowl. Mami stood up before she could respond and said, "I'll go get those GriefSeeds for you now." She then turned and left the room, leaving Kyoko behind.

 **IV**

Madoka spent most of the day glancing at the clock every few minutes, then looking vaguely disappointed as if she had expected several hours to just magically disappear. She at one point looked over to Homura while she was paying attention to the TV and thought it'd be nice if she had the opposite kind of time control available to her.

Madoka tried to watch television or read some manga to pass the time, but was finding it impossible to stay focused on anything for more than a few forced minutes. She kept thinking about the call to her mom, and regretfully feeling a minor pull of anxiety as she did so. She did not understand why, and whenever she tried to self analyze the reason for it she came up empty. She eventually pinned it as mistaking excitement with anxiety and left it at that.

She _really_ wanted to speak with her mother, she really did, but even more than simply speaking to her she just wanted to leave this hotel room and go be with her in person. Even if that _could_ happen, what Madoka would then want even more is to actually go home and sleep in her own bed and start going back to school and return to her normal life. Getting that back really would never happen, though; if nothing else was clear to her about her situation, it was at least that.

"Madoka." Madoka's head shot up. She had been sitting at the kitchen bar and just spacing out when Homura got up and approached her. She was holding a deck of cards in her hand. "Want to play a game?"

"What game?" Madoka asked.

Homura shrugged as she took a seat. "Any game. I just thought it could be a good way to pass some time… Go fish?"

Madoka smiled, and gave her head a slight nod. Homura pulled the cards out of the pack, and started shuffling them. Madoka watched the rhythmic motion of her hands as she did so. She was still rather lost in her own thoughts but was happy to have something to distract her. Playing a game probably was a good idea.

They played go fish for a while. Madoka was not keeping score but she figured they each had about an even number of wins and losses. They eventually moved on to playing more advanced card games like rummy and two-ten-jack and Homura seemed to do a lot better with those, winning the majority of the time. _It's because she's smart,_ Madoka thought, thinking back to the day she first met Homura and how well she did solving problems in school.

Madoka did not think too much about escape anymore, at least not in the same way she did when she was first brought here. Homura didn't have any weaknesses; she was smarter than her, stronger than her, more clever and analytical, and her will to do whatever it took to keep Madoka as her captive was far stronger than Madoka's will to escape. Madoka did pinpoint that one weakness of Homura's when she tried to kiss her, and at one point she thought she could use that to her advantage, but by now she thought it was a stupid idea. Madoka was not the type of person who could play with someone's emotions like that, so it was an unrealistic plan in the first place.

Also… she looked up at Homura who was analyzing her hand of cards; that deep expression in her eyes as she thought made her seem really beautiful. Madoka did not want to hurt her. In spite of everything, she knew she would just feel terrible if she did try playing with Homura's emotions like that. Besides, it probably would not get her anywhere in the first place, so it was just a stupid desperate idea that she felt embarrassed for coming up with in the first place.

They spent the whole day playing cards, and it really did have the desired effect of helping Madoka forget about the time. Before she knew it there were just a few minutes to go and no more time for more games before the call could be made. Homura gathered all the cards, returned them to the pack, and then went into the bedroom where she had hidden the disposable phone. She set it down on the kitchen bar when she came back out and retook her seat on the opposite side from Madoka.

Madoka stared at the old fashioned flip-phone, watching the digital clock, waiting for it to click to 05:00. The feeling of anxiety she had managed to distract herself was coming back now… what was she going to say? What would they talk about, and how long could they talk? Madoka was also bracing herself for the depression she knew she would feel once she did have to hang up the phone and say goodbye to her mother.

The clock finally clicked to the desired time she had been waiting for, and her eyes instantly shot back up to Homura's.

Ever since revealing the phone Homura had been watching it closesly, as if having it out in the open and in Madoka's reach made her nervous. Her hand softly reached over and picked it up. Once she flipped it open she looked to Madoka and smiled. "Ready?" Madoka nodded her head instantly and Homura started punching the number in. "Here, just press the green button," she said as she handed it over.

Madoka took the phone, stared at the foreign number that was printed across the screen and her thumb softly hovered over the green call button.

"Just remember what we talked about," said Homura. "If questions about where you are or who you are with come up, just assure her you are okay and say you can not talk about it. You... don't need to lie to her about anything. You can be as honest as you want, just don't say anything that she could use as a clue."

"I… I understand…" Madoka said. She stared at her thumb hovering over the green button, and for some reason it felt like it was hard to push, like her thumb and the button were opposing magnets and there was a magnetic field pushing them apart. When she finally pressed it, however, it happened all at once and instantly she could hear it starting to ring. She gulped and brought the phone up to her ear.

Homura turned to the side, trying to give her a little privacy, but still keeping herself in arms length and listening to every word that would be said. If Madoka got up and started pacing around while talking to her mom, she figured Homura would probably follow her.

It rang, and rang, it felt like it was taking an incredibly long time. Each pause between rings made her breath stop, and then her heart felt like it skipped a beat with the succeeding ring that followed the silence.

" _Hey mom,"_ she thought, " _Mom? Mommy… H-hello mom!"_ She ran through how to start the call in her head, until suddenly the ringing stopped. She opened her mouth to say something but was only greeted by a dial tone.

"H-hello?" she asked in a small voice. "Hello?" There was no one on the other side. "Hello!" she asked again, feeling despair run over her. Her mom didn't pick up… She didn't pick up! "Mom!" She looked over to Homura with a panicked look in her eyes. Homura was staring back with that typical unreadable expression of hers. "Sh-she didn't pick up!" Madoka explained hurriedly.

"Try again," Homura said simply. "We will just keep trying."

Madoka nodded, hung up the phone and then seemed like she was unsure of how to get it to redial the number. Homura took it from her and did it instead, then handed it back to her once it started ringing.

She was back to listening to the ringing and feeling fearful that it is all she would get to hear from this phone. Why wasn't her mom picking up? Could it be that… Homura lied to her? She looked up at Homura with a vaguely accusing look in her eyes. Why would Homura do that, though? Was it just to manipulate her so she could pretend she at least _tried_ to arrange a phone call? Madoka did see the letter Homura wrote, but there was no proof Homura ever actually delivered it. What if Homura had no intentions of making this phone call work? What if she never actually got to speak with any of her family again?… What if…

"Madoka! Hello? Madoka!?" came Junko's voice, practically shouting, "Madoka?"

"M-mom?"

"I'm here. Can you hear me?"

"Y-yeah, can you hear me?"

Junko sighed with relief, "Oh thank god… I… I could hear you when you called a moment ago but it seemed you couldn't hear me… a-and then you hung up…" she took a deep breath. "Are you okay, Madoka?"

"Um… y-yes, I'm fine… um…" What was she suppose to say? She had no idea where to start. "Um… I'm okay! I'm not being hurt or anything. I… just want you to know that. Um… h-how about you? Are you doing okay through all this?"

"I'm scared for you, but yes I am fine. Daddy and Tatsuya are okay too. We all miss you very much, Madoka."

Madoka's face perked up into a smile, her cheeks turning red as silent tears glassed the corners of her eyes. "I miss all of you too," she said. "I wish… um…" she trailed off. She wanted to say, _I wish I could come back home,_ but feeling Homura's presence right over her shoulder stopped her. "I… I really wish I could see you."

Junko paused, and asked, "The kidnapper is with you right now, isn't he?"

Madoka looked to Homura and Homura nodded her head. "Yes," said Madoka.

"There is something I want to ask," said Junko. "It is not for the sake of gathering clues, it would just make me feel better. If this is too much information, don't answer. Is there just one kidnapper, or is it a group of people?"

"Um…" Madoka looked up to Homura. Homura was motionless for a while, as if considering the request, then nodded her head. "Okay… um, it's just one person. There is no one else involved."

"And you say he has not hurt you?" Junko asked.

"No! Not at all!" said Madoka instantly.

"You are being honest about that, Madoka? Don't bare this all alone just to make me feel better. I'd rather know what you are going through."

"Yes… I'm being honest… um…" Madoka looked up to Homura again, then let her eyes fall back to the top of the kitchen bar. "Um… I am eating good food every night. I have lots of books to read, movies to watch, and things like that… and… the kidnapper isn't mean to me…" _...as long as I don't try to escape and just do whatever she says._

Junko was quiet for a while, then said, "Tell the kidnapper we will pay a ransom. We have a lot of money and can give him whatever he wants. We will set it up just like this phonecall. The police don't have to be involved or anything. I'll be the only one involved, and we will find a way to arrange it so I will not see his face or uncover his identity."

"Mom…" Madoka frowned, knowing that Homura had no interest in money.

"Just offer it. Tell him I have no desire to find out who he is or bringing him to justice. We just want you back, Madoka, that's all. We don't care about anything else!"

"Um…" Madoka took the phone away from her ear and put her hand over it. "Sh-she wants to pay a ransom." Homura frowned and shook her head, then Madoka went back to talking to her mom. "Th-the kidnapper doesn't care about money."

"Ten million yen," said Junko. "That is what I can easily have access to right now. If I liquidate some of my investments, it could be fifty million. Tell him."

"Mom… that won't work…" said Madoka… "I…"

"Well then what _does_ he want? Tell him to name anything. We will do anything to have you back Madoka!"

"I-its not like that…" Madoka insisted in a small voice. "All she is trying to do is-" Madoka gasped and her eyes shot back up to Homura, seeing her captors eyes lower into a scowl. "I- I mean… the- _the kidnapper_ is just um… trying to keep me safe." She looked at Homura with a pleading look in her eyes. She knew that Homura did not want her to reveal her gender, but it was a slip of the tongue and her eyes were asking for her not to be mad about it.

Homura eventually shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's okay," which came as a pretty big relief to Madoka.

"Protect you?" Junko seemed to contemplate this for a moment, and probably also the fact that Madoka had just revealed her kidnapper was actually a girl. "Madoka, what could you possibly need protection from?"

"Well… it's hard to explain. Um… M-mom, she really does have good intentions. She means well, I mean… so… I mean… she's not a bad person."

Junko lowered her voice, "Madoka, you don't need protection from anything, you understand that, don't you?"

Madoka paused, thinking back on everything she had seen that night when she escaped. Being trapped in that cage with the horrible laughing creatures, seeing the injuries Kyoko and Homura sustained from fighting, and the magic they healed themselves with, as well as those haunting red eyes and disturbing child-like voice of the incubator. "It's… complicated," Madoka said, not sure how to explain that there actually was some danger. She did not want Homura to protect her in this way, but she did not want her mom to get the wrong idea and think that Homura was keeping her detained just out of cruelty. Then again, why is it that she was worried about that?

Junko had another moment of silence, and Madoka wondered what exactly she was pondering at that moment, until Junko finally said, "Do you think… I could speak to her for a moment? The kidnapper."

"What? Um…" Madoka's eyes shifted back up to Homura. "I um… I don't think she would want that."

"I just want to understand her reasons. Tell her this isn't a trick, I just want to speak to her."

"Um… well…" Madoka covered the phone with her hand and said, "Um… my mom says she wants to talk to you. She said to tell you it isn't a trick, she just wants to understand your reasons."

Homura sighed, her eyes falling over to the wall and her eyebrow furrowing as she thought it over. "That could be dangerous. It's bad enough she knows I'm a girl, but hearing my voice could let her in on other things about me. Like my age, for example."

"I'll tell her no then…" Madoka said and started to bring the phone back to her ear.

"Wait," said Homura, putting a hand up. "Let me think for a moment."

Madoka put her hand back over the phone and joined her in thinking. She cautiously said, "I mean… does it really matter if she knows your age?"

"The first thing the police would do with that is narrow down the list of suspects to your classmates. It is possible that will lead them to looking for _me_ and realizing I am missing as well. Right now the school thinks I'm at the hospital and the hospital thinks I am living out of my apartment and attending school. Once the police discover the notes I created to establish this ruse they will know it is me. So yes, it _does_ matter."

"I mean… even if they knew who you were…" Madoka frowned and let her eyes fall to the floor. "It's not like they can do anything about it. Even if they found me, I mean…" Madoka's voice quieted down to almost a whisper, "You could easily just take me away again."

Homura sighed, realizing that Madoka was right. Even in the worst case scenario's the police were not her main concern. If they were ever found, all she would have to do is stop time and move somewhere else. Besides, she was not planning on keeping Madoka in this hotel room forever. Just a few more weeks at the most, then they would leave town and Homura would take her to safety before Walpurgisnacht arrived.

Homura held her hand out, asking for the phone. "Alright, give it to me. I will speak with her."

* * *

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 **-Atomyst**


	35. It's not okay!

**I**

Nagisa was on her way up the stairs of the hospital. She had stopped by the high school after classes on her way here, and as she ascended the poorly lit flight of stairs she thought back on the exchange between her two friends, feeling rather worried about it.

She had first met with Sayaka outside the school at the usual place, and Mami had shown up moments later with a beat up old duffle bag under her arm.

Nagisa remember getting ready to give Mami a cheery hello, but Sayaka spoke first and simply said, "What's that?"

"Well its…"

"For _her_ , right?" Sayaka had said in a dry uncaring tone. That is when Nagisa realized that Sayaka was staring off into the distance and not even looking at Mami, and then it became clear to her that they were having a fight.

"Well, yes…" Mami had said, somewhat guiltily. "Actually, I just stopped by on my way back to let you know I won't be able to hunt tonight… I just thought I should keep an eye on her until her condition improves. Also…" Mami reached into a pouch on the side of the bag and pulled something out. She kept it hidden in her palm as she handed it to Sayaka. "Also, she wanted me to give this to you." Mami smiled, trying to brighten the atmosphere. "She said she doesn't want to owe you anything. Sorry about that, she is quite stubborn." As soon as Sayaka had it in her hand it seemed like she wanted to give it back… it was a GriefSeed.

"Whatever, that sentiment goes both ways I guess. I don't want that girl thinking we're…" Sayaka stuffed the GriefSeed into her skirt pocket and clicked her tongue. "Well, nevermind. Actually, I wasn't going to hunt with you guys today either. I told my friend Hitomi I'd meet her at the cafe, so that's where I'm going."

"Oh, okay then," said Mami. "Lets just call it off for tonight, and tomorrow we can… um…" Before she finished speaking Sayaka had abruptly turned and started walking away.

That is the moment Nagisa could not shake from her mind. She remembered watching Sayaka walking away and feeling like she should run after her and say something to set her straight. But she did not, and she was already regretting it.

Before Nagisa and Mami had parted ways, Mami gave her a smile and assured her that everything was fine, and then they said their goodbyes for the day.

"Stupid weird girl…" Nagisa muttered to herself as she came to her mother's door at the hospital. Sayaka was really acting like a huge jerk… but… Nagisa frowned, thinking it was partly her own fault that things ended up like this...

She stopped when she heard something from inside the room: " _Ha! YAAAH!"_ She could not help smiling once she heard it, and then creeked the door open to peeked inside. "Waaaah! HiiiyYAAA!"

Her mom was on her feet, wearing the loose hospital robe and she was throwing punches and kicks at thin air. She retook her stance after finishing a combo, her fists squared up in front of her face and prepared for another attack when she noticed Nagisa through the corner of her eye, peeking at her through the doorway. She grinned, and dropped back to a neutral stance as Nagisa came in.

"Hello mama!" Nagisa said as she came over to her. She put her arms up so her mom could bend down and give her a hug.

"Hey sweetie!" she laughed, "Schools out already? I must have lost track of time."

"Yup! Um, guess you're feeling pretty good today, huh?" Nagisa asked. Once they parted from their hug Nagisa went over to the bed and shrugged off her bookbag. Her mom took a seat on top of the mattress and wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her robe.

"Yeah, I feel great!" She then put a finger over her lips and winked as she whispered: "Don't tell the doctors you caught me training like that, though. They are insisting I just stay in bed, but I feel so good I honestly think that would do more harm than good."

"That's good to hear!" Nagisa put her hands on the mattress to help boost herself up on the bed and took a seat next to her mom. "And don't worry, I won't tell the doctors on you."

Her mom had been a martial arts practitioner her whole life, not as a career or anything like that, but just more as an enthusiastic hobby. Though, Nagisa had seen pictures of her when she was in high school and use to competed in tournaments. Back home they had a small training room her mom worked out in every day; until she started getting sick, that is. Years ago, before her father passed away, he would use it too. Nagisa herself never showed much interest in martial arts, but she still always thought her mom looked really cool when she was doing it.

"So how was your day?" her mom asked.

"It was okay."

"Just okay?" Her mom smiled, but then noticed a slight frown on her daughter's face. "Hm, something on your mind?"

"Huh… oh, well… I guess I was just thinking, my friends seem to be having a fight. I was just thinking about that."

"Mami and Sayaka?" her mom asked. Nagisa nodded. "Now, what could they be fighting about?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. Really it seems like it's Sayaka who has the problem. I guess she is a little mad at Mami about… um… well, something that happened."

"That's a pretty general explanation."

Nagisa felt bad about not being able to explain everything to her mom. If she wanted she could easily come up with a lie regarding what her friends were fighting about, but she did not want to. It's not that she would never lie to her mom, but considering how close she had come to losing her she would feel extra guilty about it if she did it now. "I don't know, it's probably nothing. I'll tell you about it later some time."

"Okay, I understand. I bet it's something personal between them, isn't it?"

"I guess you could put it like that," Nagisa said with a nod.

"Don't worry, friends fight sometimes, it's natural. They seem pretty close so I am sure they will get over whatever it is.

Nagisa nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

"Hey, you want to take a walk around the hospital? I'm just feeling a little stir-crazy from being hauled up in this room all day. I could use a change of scenery."

"Okay," Nagisa smiled. "The doctors won't be mad though, will they?"

"I'm sure it will be perfectly fine. Who knows, maybe if they do see me on my feet a little more it will actually convince them it's okay to send me home already." Her mom laughed and patted Nagisa's head.

Nagisa returned the laugh as she said, "Alright, sounds good!" As they were leaving the room Nagisa asked, "You are still going to be let out in a few days though, right?"

"Actually, I'm not sure. I may have jumped the gun a little when I told you that. They still don't have an explanation for what my illness was, and the fact it went away so suddenly must have them a little bit perplexed." She looked down and gave another warm smile. "Don't let that worry you, though. I think that whatever it was, there was some kind of miracle and now it is all over."

Nagisa once again felt a little guilty that she could not tell her mom that she was the one responsible for that miracle. She was also coming to the realization she was probably going to have to start lying to her mom about a lot of things thanks to her new life as a Magical Girl.

It was a shame, because after the events of last night she was starting to feel extra nervous about her new job. When Kyoko started attacking them there was not a single thing she could do to help, and that was not the first time she felt that way. Even when fighting against witches her effectiveness was rather minimal, as it was typically Mami and Sayaka who did most of the direct fighting. Not only that, if she did not let herself be taken as a hostage by Homura last night, then Homura would not have been able to get away. Sayaka would have her friend back, and she and Mami would not be fighting. Nagisa felt so guilty about it because she knew it was all her fault for being stupid and getting caught.

"Hey mama… um... can… you teach me how to fight?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh?" she looked down with a raised eyebrow, surprised to hear that from her daughter. "You mean you want to learn martial arts?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I could start showing you some basics once we get home. It's odd though, you never really showed interest in it before, so how come the change of heart so suddenly?"

Nagisa frowned, seemingly like she didn't want to answer at first. Eventually, in a low voice, she said: "Because I want to be stronger."

"Stronger?" Her mom thought for a moment, her eyes glancing upward as she pondered it. Then she looked back down to her daughter and smiled. "You know, there is more than one way a person can be strong. If you ask me, I think you are already much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You are assertive and unafraid of going after the things you want. When you see someone doing something wrong you speak up about it, and you are always trying to help people. So don't worry, you are just fine, Nagisa!"

She gave her daughter another smile, but Nagisa's eyes remained on the floor. "Why do you feel that way, Nagisa?" she asked. Nagisa seemed she would not come out with it, so her mom took a guess. "Does it... have something to do with when I was sick?"

Nagisa stopped walking, and slowly nodded her head. "Kind of."

"Oh, Nagisa." Her mom lowered down to her knees so she could give her daughter a big hug. "I know, that must have been so scary for you. I promise I am okay now, though!"

"I- I know that," Nagisa said, her voice cracking a little as she started to cry. Throughout the last few months, watching her mother slowly deteriorate day after day, Nagisa managed to keep herself from crying. Now that it was all over, for some reason it felt like it was okay to cry again and she suddenly could not stop the tears from coming. "I just felt so useless…" Nagisa said with a sob, "I-I wanted to help you but there was nothing I could do! I hated it!"

"Aw, but you did help me. You helped me a lot," her mom said and patted her daughter's back. "While I was sick I was fighting hard to keep my strength up. Despite how hopeless everything looked, I kept my mind focused, and prayed every day, thinking about nothing but getting healthy again. Where do you think I got that strength from?" She parted enough to look at her daughter's face. "I got it from _you_. The idea of leaving my little girl behind scared me more than anything else, and that was my reason for fighting. Every time you would come to visit me, and I got to see your smiling face, it always strengthened my resolve. Then when I suddenly got better… well, I know that it was a miracle but somehow when it happened I knew it was thanks to you, because during all of my wishes and praying, I really just had you in mind."

The tears suddenly stopped flowing from Nagisa's eyes, and she rocked forward to put her arms around her mom again. "I love you mama!"

She put her arms back around her daughter and said, "I love you too Nagisa. Don't worry, everythings all better now. Mama's not going anywhere for a long time!"

Yeah, Nagisa thought, things would be better because of her wish, the wish she could not tell her mom about. There was a price she had to pay, though, and she knew she had to work hard and be strong to fulfill her end of the bargain. She needed to get strong so she could defeat the witches, and any more mean Magical Girls who wanted to do her friends harm. She just wished she did not have to hide all of this from her mother.

Nagisa sniffed and hugged her even tighter, "I love you so much!"

 **II**

Junko prided herself on her ability to stay completely composed no matter what the situation. In her career she had done presentations in front of Japan's top corporate C. in situations where billions of yen could be lost or gained depending on her ability to sow faith in her company's abilities. In those situations if she felt any hint of anxiety she was able to stifle it and hide it from even herself to the point she could not say if it was there at all. Now, as the phone went silent and she awaited the kidnapper to pick up, her palm felt sweaty and she could not deny the rapid beating of her own heart.

She listened closely, and the white static of the phone line was very softly joined with the almost unnoticeable sound of breathing. She swallowed, and calmly said, "Hello?"

There was no response, but Junko knew the kidnapper was there.

"So, what can I call you?" she asked. There was still no response. She waited a moment, and then tried another approach. "Listen. I understand that you do not want any money, but if we talk I am sure we can find a better solution to this dilemma. Your claim is that you are trying to protect Madoka. I do not know what it is she needs protection from, but if we work together perhaps we can find a way of keeping her safe. I'm her mother. My child's safety is the most important thing in the world to me. If keeping her away from danger is truly your goal then I am the greatest ally you can have for that purpose. So, let's talk."

Junko waited for the kidnapper, but it still seemed as though she had nothing to say. "What exactly is the danger?" Junko asked. "How about we start there? Is there someone else who is trying to hurt her? Please, help me understand this."

Finally, the kidnapper spoke. Her words were clean and steady but there was a lack of tone in them that was strangely unnerving. "It is hard to explain, but yes, it could be put that way. There is indeed someone out there whose ambitions will put Madoka in danger, but that is not the only danger that faces her. You see, Madoka is also a danger to herself. She will not listen to my warnings, and so I must take drastic measures to insure she does not do anything…" the kidnapper's voice trailed off, but it did not feel like she was thinking about how to say it. It was more like she was allowing the next word to sit in her mouth for a moment, so she could taste it before letting it out... " _Foolish…_ "

Junko's hand tightened on the phone, and her face tensed into a deep scowl. She reminded herself to keep a level head. Her baby was in trouble and she did not know how dangerous this person could be. She had to be careful not to say anything that would provoke her.

"My daughter is a smart girl. You have been with her for close to two weeks now, so I am sure you see that. I am sure we can keep her from endangering herself… but please, I am completely in the dark on this. Can you help me understand exactly what is happening?"

"I am sorry, it would be impossible to make you fully understand, but I will put it as generally as I can. There is someone who wants something from Madoka, or rather, there is something this person wants her to do. It is something that will undoubtedly lead to her death if she gives in, and as I said before, it is a guarantee that Madoka will eventually end up doing just that. The only way to prevent this is to hide her, and keep her away from this person who wants to offer her a contract."

"A contract? I… don't understand. What kind of contract?" The way the kidnapper said the word contract was so unnerving that Junko subconsciously put her other hand around her wrist to steady it from shaking.

The kidnapper let out a resigned sigh, as if she did not want to say what she was about to say, but forced it out anyway. "A kind that is not of this world. I said _person_ when referring to this contractor, but it would actually be more accurate to refer to him as a _creature_. His contract will strip Madoka of her humanity and turn her into a tool. After she has been used, she will die. As I say this I can only imagine how you are interpreting it, Junko Kaname, but understand this: there _are_ things in this world that go beyond your current notions of reality. I am not crazy, and none of this is made up. The danger Madoka is in is real, but as long as she stays with me she will be safe. I can guarantee you that."

Junko's hand went from steadying her wrist to covering her mouth. The way all of that was said… Junko could tell she completely believed what she was saying. In fact, the seriousness of her tone was so convincing that Junko almost felt like she believed it herself. She finally was able to identify that feeling in her heart that was causing her hand to shake… it was a new sensation for her, and something she had never felt before: It was _horror_.

"Okay… well, first do you think you could give me a name to call you by?"

The kidnapper thought, and then said, "Clara."

Despite everything, Junko was somehow keeping her voice steady, and more than that, she managed to keep it at a friendly tone. "I am assuming that is a pseudonym," she said with a vague hint of humor. She was indeed at least able to keep her voice under control, and have her words come out exactly the way she wanted. Her face, if _Clara_ could see it, showed a completely different person, however.

"Of course."

"Well, Clara, I will not try to argue what you just told me and I will take it as fact for now. However, I now have to ask why it is you have taken it upon yourself to protect Madoka from this. I'm assuming you have not known her for very long, or else I would have heard about you by now," Junko gave a small casual laugh, "My daughter is a real talker, you know, I get to hear about all her new acquaintances and she never mentioned some like y-"

"Quiet!" Clara suddenly spat out. There was an unexpected level of emotion in her voice and it silenced Junko instantly. "I… I know how this must seem but… I care about your daughter very much…" Junko could hear a door shut in the background… did Clara just retreat to a different room? "She is the only reason I have for living, yet, if I could trade my own life to make this all go away I would do that in a heartbeat. But it is not that simple. This is the only way I could think of. Even if it hurts her, and she hates it, at least she is safe with me."

"And how do you think I feel?" Junko asked. "Madoka is my _daughter_! You sound young, so I don't think you could possibly understand what it's like being a parent and…" Junko slowed herself down and reminded herself not to start attacking this girl, even though part of her really wanted to let her have it. "Listen… my children are everything to me. I wasn't sure what to make of your letter when you said you were trying to protect Madoka, but now that I have spoken to you I do believe that is your intention. Still, you must know that this method of going about it is wrong."

"I…" Clara started to speak, paused, and Junko waited in silence for her to give her response. After a moment she said, "I know, but I have no choice."

"Yes you do. Put an end to this and let Madoka come home. I don't know much about you, or what kind of situation you are in, but I'm sure I can help you as well. I have a lot of connections and-"

"What are you talking about?" Clara asked.

The horrified feeling in Junko's heart was at least dissipating somewhat. Perhaps it was hearing actual emotion from this girl rather than the droning tone as she stated what Junko was sure were complete delusional fantasies as facts. At least now she seemed like a real person. "Clara… don't take this the wrong way, please, but have you ever considered that this contractor you mentioned is not real?"

"You _do_ think I am crazy. I can not blame you. I honestly doubted that you would come to any other conclusion when I explained things. I assure you I am completely sane though, and this line of conversation is pointless."

Junko thought for a moment. It was frustrating because she felt like there was some magical line of words, that if strung together in just the right way, could be used to convince Clara to stop what she was doing and let Madoka go. She did not know what those words could be, but how confidently Clara just denied her insanity proved that method might be no good. Talking about Madoka is what made her sound most human, however, so Junko went back to that. "How exactly do you know my daughter?" she asked.

"I know her…" More hesitation.

"It's okay, tell me," Junko prodded on when it seemed Clara was stuck between whether to say it or not.

"I know her from another life."

"Another life?" Junko asked.

"Yes."

"I don't understand."

"No, you would not. No one can understand what I have been through… but… Junko Kaname, I know what you are trying to do and I assure you it is pointless. This is harsh, but I think it is more cruel to give you false hope, so I will just say it. I will be keeping Madoka with me for three years… maybe four or more if it is necessary. I am sorry that is the way it has to be, but let me ask which you would prefer: would you prefer that your daughter spends four years under my protection, or would you prefer her to simply be dead?" Junko gasped and instantly felt tears sting her eyes. "Don't misunderstand, I would never bring harm to Madoka, of course. Now, please answer the question. Which do you think of as the better outcome?"

"I'm not answering that," said Junko, her voice wavering and cracking despite her efforts to keep herself together.

"It's okay, I think I have made my point clear. You might never believe it, or have any faith in me, but that is the ultimatum your daughter is faced with. I'm going to keep her alive. If I was not here, she would be dead."

"You can't possibly know that!" Junko yelled at her. "Please! Look around yourself! Look at how wrong this is! You can not just imprison her like this! It's WRONG!" Junko felt like she couldn't stand up straight anymore, and kneeled down inside the phone booth, one hand over her mouth and the other holding the phone firmly against her ear. "Please… just let her go… she's my daughter, and her family misses her. She has a life… you can't do this to her! So please…"

"I'm giving the phone back to Madoka now. I will feel bad if I take up all the time in this phone call… especially if it is spent discussing something pointless."

"Clara! Wait!" Junko yelled into the phone, "Come back! Talk to me! Please just talk to me!" her hand came away from her face and she pounded a fist against the side of the phonebooth. "Please!" She realized it really was pointless, and she wiped the tears off her cheeks as she forced herself to stand again. She did her best to pull herself together, so that when she spoke with her daughter she would be able to sound strong, and give her encouragement.

"H-hello again mom!" Madoka said, doing her best to sound cheerful and hide the distress which was still perfectly clear to her mother.

 _That's so like her,_ Junko thought with a smile. _Even in this situation, she is thinking about making others happy. She always does that._ Part of her was happy that Madoka was still the same, but when they first talked at the start of the phone call Junko picked up on something else that was concerning her...

"Hey baby," Junko said, softly. What was she suppose to say? She wanted to help her daughter, but the only tool she had available to do so were words. What good could words do? How could she rescue her daughter from this clearly irrational person when that is all she had? "How are you doing sweetheart?"

"Um… well, I'm okay… um… it's just good to hear your voice, mama."

Junko could not help smiling more. No matter what, her children were always able to put a smile on her face. "I love you so much Madoka."

"I love you too mama!" Madoka said back. "Um… we are going to get to talk like this more. She says she will try to arrange phone calls more often, and I am trying to convince her to find a way to get daddy and Tatsuya on the phone too so I can talk to them. I-it is really not too bad here, so don't be too sad mama."

"What kind of place is it?" Junko asked, wiping her face on the back of her sleeve. "Tell me about it."

"Well, lets see… it's a nice place. It's comfortable. Like I said, I have books and TV to watch, even if I do get a little bored with all of that. Also there is a bath, and plenty of food, and… everything I need, really."

"How does she keep you there?" Junko asked, happy to hear Madoka was not being treated _too_ inhumanly, but the way she described all that still concerned Junko more and more for another reason. "I mean, what is preventing you from leaving?"

"Well… there is a lock on the door… also… um…" Madoka's voice trailed off.

"What is it? You don't have to hide anything from me."

"Well… um, th-this really isn't as bad as it might sound, so don't get too worried about it… but… w-whenever she has to leave, she ties me to the bed. S-since she is not around to make sure I'm not trying to escape. She also does that at night when she is sleeping. But it's not too bad! I mean, it makes sense, she's not doing it just to be mean and she really is trying her best to-"

"Madoka," Junko suddenly interrupted her. The thing that bothered her more than anything about this is the way Madoka seemed to be defending her captor. Junko could tell it was not just Madoka trying to stop her from worrying. Madoka was actually rationalizing it all to herself… convincing herself that it was okay to be treated this way. "Is there anything else she does to you?" Junko asked. "Tell me everything."

She heard Madoka sniff, holding back a sob, and she said… "W-well… L-like I said, it really isn't as bad as it sounds, but sometimes she… um…"

"It's okay baby," Junko said, keeping herself together despite the distress she heard in her daughter's voice making her want to break down. "Tell me about it. It's better to be able to talk about things."

"Well… sometimes she gags me…"

"She gags you. With what?"

"A cloth... and tape…"

"And how long has she left you like that?"

"Sometimes… for a really long time… all day once…"

Ever since all of this started Junko had possessed a burning in her heart towards the person who took her little girl away, but hearing that made that anger grow even further. All she _really_ wanted was to have her daughter back, and compared to that one thing not much else matter, but there is another side of herself she could not deny which just wanted _Clara_ to pay for doing something like that to her daughter. She wanted her to pay in the worst way imaginable.

"It's not that bad though!" Madoka insisted. "I mean, she didn't mean for it to be for a long time, and she gave me music to listen to. I-I mean, she tries to make things as okay as possible, even if-"

"Madoka," Junko interrupted her. "Listen to me closely… what she is doing to you is _wrong_. You understand that, don't you?" Madoka didn't answer, so Junko continued. "You did not do anything to deserve this, and no matter how nice she _tries_ to be, it is not okay for her to hold you against your will like this. Please tell me you understand that."

"I do… but… Like I said, it's not that bad…"

"It _is_ that bad Madoka," Junko said sternly. "Listen to your mother. Any time you start feeling like it is okay that you are being locked in a room, and tied to a bed, and forced to stay away from your friends and family, remember me right now telling you that it is _not_ okay!" Madoka started sobbing on the other end of the phone. Junko felt terrible, understanding that Madoka's insistence that her situation " _isn't that bad"_ was actually a defence mechanism to keep herself calm. Her situation would be easier to bare if she allowed herself to think like that, but at the same time going down that psychological path of denying what was really happening to her was far more dangerous. That is why Junko had to do this, and take that little piece of relief away from her, even if it hurt her. "Madoka, your mama loves you."

"I-I… l-love you too, mama…" Madoka sobbed.

"Don't do anything to put yourself in danger," Junko said, deciding to leave Madoka with one last piece of advice. "But you are smart. Use your head, and if you can think of a way to escape - take it!"

Madoka's sobs became lower, Junko realized the phone was being taken away from her and Junko quickly yelled. "Madoka! I love you so much MADOKA!"

Then, Madoka was gone and she could once again feel Clara's presence on the other side of the line. "You have upset her," Clara said. Junko opened her mouth to respond, but Clara spoke right over her. "This is not how I wanted this call to be. I am ending it now. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Junko screamed into the phone, but before she could get another word out she was greeted by a dial tone and Clara was gone.

She listened to the low tone, stared at the receiver, and tightened her grip. She suddenly started slamming the phone against its holder and screaming. She pounded again and again until she was out of breath, her hand stung, and the hard plastic of the phone was split open enough to expose its inner wiring.

Junko let the mutilated phone slip from her hand, and then with almost robotic movements she turned around and walked back out to the city streets. She stood there in a daze, watching cars pass by on the road in front of her, and tears silently rolled down her cheeks.

"What have I done…" she said to herself as the tears dripped off her chin and fell to the ground by her feet.

She was thinking she should have told the police about the letter after all. They had ways of tracking calls. They could be on their way to rescue Madoka right this second! But no! Why did she take matters into her own hands like this? WHY? Now there was no guarantee there would ever be contact from the kidnapper again...

She no longer felt like she could stand, and fell to her knees right there on the side of the street. She put a hand over her wet face and sobbed. "I'm such a fool…"

* * *

 **-Atomyst**

 **Follow me on Twitter at /Atomyst_Fics**


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